Fernando Alonso enjoyed a second consecutive podium in the 2023 Saudi Arabian GP. The Spaniard finished third behind the Red Bull of Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen, finishing P1 and P2 respectively.
Aston Martin showed a huge sign of improvement since the last race in Bahrain. And based on their pace, the Silverstone-based team are the closest competitor to Red Bull this year.
The Green outfit has beaten the likes of Mercedes and Ferrari. Now, the team has a chance to win their first-ever race this season. But winning against a dominant Red Bull RB19 won’t be easy.
Alonso believes the AMR23 has got what it takes to fight for wins. But the 2x world champion believes winning races this season will come at the mercy of Red Bull making an error.
Fernando Alonso thinks Red Bull will make mistakes
Along with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, Alonso believes that Red Bull is a league apart this season. The RB19 has a furious pace and has claimed poles and 1-2 finishes in both races so far.
The Spaniard was barely able to defend Verstappen who made his way from P15 to P2. But the racer believes that Red Bull’s purple streak could end soon.
He said, “We’ll need some help from Red Bull, to win races. But it will happen eventually. They cannot always finish first and second.”
Both Red Bulls suffered a reliability scare ahead of the 2023 Bahrain GP. In the Saudi GP Qualifying session, Verstappen was forced to retire after a driveshaft issue.
The 2x world champion claims the team could suffer from a myriad of problems. Including grid penalties, a bad pit stop, and reliability issues which would compromise their lead. Aston Martin needs to capitalise on such instances.
He added, “One day it’s a pitstop, one day it’s a gearbox. There’s going to be some circuits where maybe reliability or whatever could benefit us and hopefully we’ll take the opportunity.”
Aston Martin getting closer to Red Bull
Alonso finished 25 seconds behind the winner Sergio Perez. But the Spaniard claims there were definitely some positives in this race.
Alonso claims the team have managed to close the gap with Red Bull. He said, “We’re getting a bit closer. In Bahrain, they were far ahead. Here, they were untouchable for sure, but we got a little bit closer.”
The Aston Martin driver started on the front row, after qualifying P3 and Leclerc’s 10-place grid penalty. He enjoyed a great start, beating Perez to the first corner and leading the race for a few laps.
That shows that the car indeed has the pace to catch up with the RB19. He added, “We led the race. So we have the first picture of Aston Martin leading the Formula 1 field for two laps.”
The Spaniard hasn’t won a race since the 2013 Spanish GP. But with his new team doing wonders in the first 2 races of the season, we may see the Spaniard on the top step of the podium again.
