Fernando Alonso’s birthday didn’t go quite as planned as the Aston Martin driver ended the Belgian GP Sprint race with a spin that trapped him in the gravel. This added to more misery for the Spanish driver, who is already facing an uphill task with Aston Martin, a team that seems to be taking a step backward every weekend. Now, Will Buxton believes that a stressed-out Alonso will have some serious words with the Silverstone-based team following yet another average show.
For the first time this season, Alonso seemed hopeless about a good finish on a race weekend. While the 42-year-old was always confident about points finish, he has begun questioning the AMR23’s competitiveness.
Fernando Alonso is OUT of the Sprint! 😲 pic.twitter.com/7q3qHmkfuG
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) July 29, 2023
In the previous rounds this season, Alonso seemed fairly confident about finishing in the top three, even if he had a poor qualifying session. That was the case until the Hungarian GP last weekend, but now, Alonso seems to have given up on his quests of aiming for unrealistic podium positions.
The former Ferrari star is not a driver who will keep quiet when things aren’t going his way. This was particularly visible during his Alpine and McLaren stints. But, so far he hasn’t said anything against Aston Martin. Buxton, however, reckons that it is only a matter of time before Alonso loses his temper.
Buxton anticipates Alonso’s outrage following underwhelming performances
Will Buxton, a renowned F1 journalist is of the opinion that Alonso is currently under a lot of stress and his body language has reflected that. Buxton also thinks that things within him and the team aren’t that good.
Speaking about it in the post-Sprint Race show according to F1 TV, the journalist said, “When things are going well, he is a joy, when things aren’t going well, Fernando [Alonso] starts to tighten the bolts.” He then added, “The stress level in him just starting to increase and you know that there are going to be some pretty serious words behind the scenes.”
Not quite our day today. It’s heads town tonight and full focus on the opportunities in store tomorrow for the #BelgianGP.#F1Sprint pic.twitter.com/dR1Nwu3KVi
— Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team (@AstonMartinF1) July 29, 2023
Following Buxton’s comments, the two-time world champion claimed that finishing in the points on Saturday was never a possibility for him any way. He started the race from P15 and climbing into the top eight with his current car, seemed very difficult.
Fernando Alonso knows Aston Martin’s limitations
Fernando Alonso, talking about his sprint in the post-Sprint race interview, accepted his mistake. He claimed that the team wasn’t even in the position to fight for points. He added that he was glad this didn’t happen in the main race on Sunday.
Alonso’s body language was comprehensively different during the sprint shootout. He was visibly annoyed in the interview following that session. There he stated that he could do nothing after Lance Stroll crashed in the shootout.
As things stand, Aston Martin and Fernando Alonso will be looking forward to the Italian GP. Monza is a track that could supposedly play to their strengths. There, they could aim to bounce back after what has been a difficult last few weeks.
