Fernando Alonso is known to be one of the most passionate Formula 1 drivers on the grid. Before his return to the sport in 2021, he met with a bike accident where he broke his jaw, and despite not recovering fully, he opted to appear for Alpine.
Last year was not better too. During the Australian GP qualifying, the Spaniard obtained an injury on his hand and reportedly broke some bones. Though he didn’t miss a race, he reveals he performed in four races until the Monaco GP with broken bones.
“In my case, I broke a few bones in both hands last year,” revealed Alonso during the Bahrain GP Press conference. “So, until August, I was not fully recovered. I had some pain, but we love driving!”
This comment comes after Lance Stroll surprised everyone in the paddock by landing in Bahrain for the weekend race. The Canadian race driver had a wrist injury during his preseason preparation after meeting a bike accident.
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Is Lance Stroll taking inspiration?
Stroll was announced to be unavailable for the Bahrain GP, and there were also doubts about his availability for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. But he showed a usual F1 driver trait: never to give their seat to anyone.
And when he is partnering with a race driver who can risk affecting his hand amidst an injury, he wouldn’t want to be behind and would be taking inspiration from Alonso. Nevertheless, Stroll completed a whole race distance on a sim setup and reported no trouble.
On the other hand, Alonso also seems to be impressed by Stroll’s reappearance on the grid, as the two-time world champion claims it displays the 23-year-old’s dedication.
However, Stroll has no experience with the 2023 Aston Martin. Though, he is aware of the Bahrain International circuit. So he most probably would have to rely on the three practice sessions.
No instant success for Aston Martin
After the three-day testing camp in Bahrain, several F1 experts have been hyping Aston Martin to rise in the standings unprecedentedly. F1 presenter Ted Kravitz even predicted the Silverstone-based team would have ended on the podium if the preseason test was the Bahrain Grand Prix.
However, Alonso is playing down the expectations. The 41-year-old claims that cracking into the top three only in one winter is unrealistic, especially when they were even lapping the fourth-best team cars during the races.
So, he thinks that even though his team would try to have the best race possible on Sunday, it’s unlikely to get a podium. And that’s also not their primary goal.
