Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin seem to be continuing their outstanding start to the F1 2023 season as the Spaniard qualified a fantastic fourth in the Australian Grand Prix on Saturday. The Spaniard’s lap time was just over 0.4 seconds slower than pole-sitter Max Verstappen’s lap time.
After yet another brilliant start to another weekend, Alonso labelled his Australian GP qualifying performance as the best of the season so far. The 41-year-old will just start Sunday’s main race behind the Red Bull of reigning champion Verstappen and the two Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.
Fernando Alonso happy with Aston Martin’s progress
Following several poor career choices, Fernando Alonso finally seems to have made the right move to join Aston Martin this year. The Spaniard seems in a far better mental space, having previously experienced multiple years of frustration with McLaren.
After qualifying fourth for the Australian Grand Prix, Alonso said in his post-qualifying interview, “The Mercedes did a very good job, very good qualifying in Q3. Still probably the best qualifying of the three (Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Australia) for us. I think we were 0.6 in Bahrain, 0.5 in Jeddah and 0.4 seconds here (in Australia) from pole”.
As for his qualifying performances, Alonso kickstarted the 2023 campaign by qualifying fifth in the Aston Martin in Bahrain. He was over 0.6 seconds slower than pole-sitter Max Verstappen on that occasion. Meanwhile, Alonso qualified third in Saudi Arabia and was approximately 0.5 seconds slower than pole-sitter Sergio Perez.
And in Australia, the Spaniard was just over 0.4 seconds slower than pole-sitter Verstappen. Considering the team’s improvement over the three races, the early signs clearly seem to suggest that Aston Martin and Alonso could have a strong season this year.
Alonso is currently third in the championship
As a result of two consecutive podium finishes in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, Fernando Alonso finds himself third in the championship with 30 points. He is only behind the two Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, who have been way clear of the rest of the field. Verstappen is 14 points ahead of Alonso, while Perez is 13 points ahead.
Consequently of Alonso’s outstanding form, Aston Martin has also had an astounding start to the new campaign. The British outfit is currently joint second in the championship alongside Mercedes with 38 points.
While Aston Martin is still a staggering 49 points behind championship leaders Red Bull (87), their start to 2023 has to be put in context with their performance last season. Last year, Aston Martin only managed to finish seventh in the Constructors’ Championship with 55 points.
