Fernando Alonso had a dream start to the 2023 season, finishing in podium places in five out of the opening six races. After a minor blip, Alonso was confident that he would be able to fight for the podium once again in Hungary. However, amidst the soaring optimism, came a reality check when he found out the true pace of the Aston Martin during the qualifying session at the Hungaroring. Alonso no longer believes that he can recreate the level of success that he enjoyed at the start of the season.
During Qualifying in Hungary, Alonso managed to finish a mediocre P8 while Lance Stroll couldn’t even clear Q2. The Aston Martin AMR23, which was supposed to be fast through the slow corners of Hungary, failed to do so.
🟢💥Lap comparison between Hamilton and Alonso in Q3 (last lap)
👉Alonso’s lap was not good, a lot of steering corrections and a mistake in turn 6,7 where he missed the apex and hit the kerb hard, causing the car to bounce a lot, he lost about 2 tenths there. https://t.co/P9gk35hqGc
— Aston Martin Formula 1 News (@AMF1News) July 22, 2023
Alonso had a scrappy final lap during the Q3 session. Quite a few steering corrections and a major mistake in the turn 6-7 complex meant that the Spanish driver lost crucial time. Now, Alonso thinks that a shot at the podium might be a bit unrealistic.
Scoring points is the main focus for Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso will start the Hungarian GP from the fourthrow, alongside Valtteri Bottas of Alfa Romeo. Ahead of him will be the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc and the other Alfa Romeo of Zhou Guanyu. Also, there is the threat of Sergio Perez starting right behind him, with the Mexican having shown great pace during races despite his qualifying struggles.
Therefore, Alonso believes that it is not realistic to hope that he would be able to cut through the field and work his way to the podium. As per SoyMotor, Alonso spoke to DAZN Sport following the qualifying session and said, “We are not fast enough to think about the podium.”
💥🟢| Alonso on what is possible in the race tomorrow:
“We are not fast enough to think about the podium, it is a weekend in which you have to clench your teeth and try to score points.” pic.twitter.com/oYVJ5bF3wQ
— Aston Martin Formula 1 News (@AMF1News) July 22, 2023
According to the Aston Martin driver, the main aim for him would be to stay in the points and ensure that the team gets a good haul. Alonso said, “It is a weekend in which you have to grit your teeth and try to score points.”
Aston Martin have failed to keep up with others
Aston Martin have failed to cope up with the pace at which their competitors have been developing their cars. The most prominent example would that be of McLaren. The Woking-based outfit has had a meteoric rise in the last race and they followed it up with a P3, P4 result during qualifying on Saturday.
YES LANDO! YES OSCAR!
A quali to be proud of from the boys! 👏#HungarianGP 🇭🇺 pic.twitter.com/lDCadG4UDn
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) July 22, 2023
Then there is Mercedes, who have proved that they are not lagging behind when it comes to the development race. Lewis Hamilton managed to claim his 104th pole position, beating out the unstoppable Max Verstappen by three hundredths of a second.
Therefore, Aston Martin are in a spot of bother right now. They haven’t been able to develop the car that was providing them with results at the start of the season. The Silverstone-based team will now have to rely on major upgrades if possible, to rescue their season.
