It has been a long wait for Fernando Alonso’s victory number 33. His last race win came in Barcelona back in 2013. Now, the Aston Martin driver, who is having a mighty rise with the AMR23, seems to be close and determined more than ever to claim the much-anticipated win.
However, his former teammate Giancarlo Fisichella believes Alonso will achieve much more than his 33rd-race win in 2023. Fisichella and Alonso raced together in Renault when the Spanish driver won his championships.
Notably, the Aston Martin driver’s task will not be easy as he will be facing an agile Max Verstappen who hasn’t lost any race since Azerbaijan GP this year. With two world championships and 41 race wins under his belt, the Dutchman is currently the biggest barrier between Alonso and his victory number 33.
Despite Verstappen’s recent dominance, the 41-year-old has the potential to claim victory against him, and he showed glimpses of that at the Canadian GP. At Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, the Spaniard finished 9 seconds behind Verstappen and has been closing the gap in every race.
Fisichella believes in Fernando Alonso
Fisichella, who raced with the two-time world champion for quite some time, has been a constant applauder of Fernando Alonso and his driving abilities. He expects Alonso to win more races and soon break the barrier of 33 with a good car.
What an honor to share the podium with these F1 legends. Thanks Canada🇨🇦💚. Enjoyed every single lap . #f1 #canada #montreal #astonmartin pic.twitter.com/l5ZJtNLSTS
— Fernando Alonso (@alo_oficial) June 18, 2023
Speaking about this, the former Ferrari star stated in F1’s Beyond the Grid podcast, “For me Fernando [is in] one of the best moments of his career and he can win a few races this year with a good car.”
Admittedly, Alonso with his AMR23 often looks threatening to Verstappen and his RB-19. Apart from the exciting Monaco GP qualification, there were multiple instances where the Asturian gave sparks of dominance.
Is Aston Martin bringing in upgrades to help Alonso?
Just like every other team, the British team is also in line to bring massive upgrades in the next few races, after the major overhaul of its side-pods and floor in Canada.
They will look to bring in periodic upgrades, unlike Mercedes who have kept a majority of their upgrades for Silverstone this year.
With major upgrades put on the AMR23, the battle for P2 is expected to get stiffer as Fernando Alonso will be right in the mix along with Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton, coming from behind.
