Fernando Alonso Makes Helpless Confession on F1’s Experiment That Propelled Max Verstappen and Co. To the Top

Fernando Alonso Makes Helpless Confession on F1’s Experiment That Propelled Max Verstappen and Co. To the Top

Ever since the 2022 ground regulations came into effect, Red Bull have been on top of their game. They seem to have produced a car that almost perfectly helps them maximize performance under such regulations. However, when it comes to Aston Martin, Fernando Alonso has now revealed that he is yet to understand his own car till date.

According to the Spaniard, with the latest generation of F1 cars, the general drivability and handling does not always coincide with its pace. As a result, he finds it difficult to give feedback to the team as he himself fails to get to grips with the concept.

MARCA.com quoted the 42-year-old as explaining, “Sometimes I [drive] and feel like everything is going well. You stop and look at the standings and maybe you’re in 14th place. And sometimes the opposite is true. The car is difficult, the balance is completely lost and then you’re in the top three. The configuration of these cars is very sensitive.”

As a result, Alonso feels he is not able to communicate what the team should do to develop the car further. Red Bull, on the other hand, haven’t faced any hiccups like porpoising that the nine other teams have faced.

When the 2023 season began, it looked like Aston Martin could be the team that would challenge them. However, Red Bull went on to record a historic season and broke several records on the way.

Despite early season promise, Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin fell pale to 2023 challenge

When the season began, Aston Martin were touted as the dark horses of the year. With Fernando Alonso behind the wheel of the AMR23, many in the paddock and around the world believed that it would only be a matter of time before Max Verstappen had a worthy adversary.

In the context of how the team’s 2022 had gone, 2023 was a massive improvement for Aston Martin. After finishing a lowly 7th in the Constructors’ championship a year ago, in 2023, they bagged a few podiums in the opening races.

However, as the season progressed, the team lost steam. None of their upgrade packages really made any difference. By the time the race in Austin came along, they actually regressed owing to their development. Maybe Alonso’s confession now ties in with why Aston Martin lost out on the developmental race to their rivals.

Despite being P2 in the championship for a significant period of time in 2023, Aston Martin quickly lost out to the likes of Mercedes, Ferrari, and then even McLaren. As a result, the Silverstone-based team had to settle for just fifth in the standings at the end of the 2023 season.

Post Edited By: Vidit Dhawan
Aston Martin Fernando Alonso Max Verstappen Red Bull

About the author

Anirban Aly Mandal

Anirban Aly Mandal is an F1 writer at The SportsRush, with over 1000 articles under his belt, Anirban's love for F1 started when he discovered a copy of F1 2014 on his computer. With over half a decade's worth of time spent religiously following the sport, he’s dived deep into the world of motorsports. However, Anirban's expertise goes beyond just writing - he has also written several academic papers focused on the domain of motorsports and the law. His passion for the sport is so immense that he aspires to work as a legal advisor in the most prestigious racing series in the world someday. When it comes to Formula 1, Anirban finds great pleasure in re-watching classic races and idolizes the likes of Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell, and Sebastian Vettel. His top picks include Brazil '91, Silverstone '92, and Germany '19. Outside of the sport, Anirban is an avid sim racer, often found racing on titles like Assetto Corsa, F1 22, and Automobilista. Apart from his interests in gaming, Anirban has a keen interest in philosophy, literature and music.

Don’t miss these