Fernando Alonso was happy his worst result of the 2023 season so far still saw him finish a only second away from another podium finish.
The Aston Martin driver failed to finish on the podium for the first time this season in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, taking fourth place in the race after starting from sixth on the grid.Alonso was just eight tenths of a second behind third-places Charles Leclerc at the chequered flag after pursuing the pole-winning Ferrari for the majority of the race.
“It was very good,” said Alonso about his afternoon. “Very happy with the result and the pace of the car.
“I think the weekend was not maybe as competitive as the first three races, but even with that I think today in the race, the car pace was very good, very strong and we challenged for the podium – only one-second to Charles. So that’s very encouraging for us.
“I think in a bad weekend for an Aston, we are fighting for the podium against one of the best weekends for Ferrari. They were in pole position for the sprint race, pole position for the main race and they were just one second in front of us on Sunday, so good news.”
For the second race in succession, Alonso spent a large part of a grand prix chasing another car but being unable to get close enough to attempt a pass. Alonso said he tried to preserve his hard compound tyres before attacking Leclerc late in the race but was unable to put the Ferrari driver under pressure.
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“When you go within one second, it’s just enough with the amount of downforce you lose to be in a very risky situation of locking up a tyre or touching the wall,” Alonso explained.
“I had two or three moments when I was that close to Charles, so I said ‘I will back off a little bit’. On the last few laps I tried to get close again, but he had a little bit of pace in hand and it was not possible.”
After he and Aston Martin team mate Lance Stroll struggled with a DRS fault in Friday qualifying and in Saturday’s sprint race, Alonso said the team found a solution for the grand prix itself.
“It worked today,” he said. “A lot of speed – I’ve never been that fast down a straight the whole weekend.
“I was happy with everything in the car, the strength of the car for whatever reason is still the tyre degradation which seems a little bit better than the others. Unfortunately with the Safety Car, we put on the hard tyres and that tyre was very robust until the end. Without that Safety Car, I think the Ferraris were struggling a lot in the first stint, so maybe Miami is better chance for us.”
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2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix
- Aston Martin radio messages reveal how “older brother” Alonso helps Stroll
- How slashing practice to a single hour in Baku tripped up F1 teams
- Bottas: “Rapid improvement needed” at Alfa Romeo
- Red Bull could become first team to score 1,000 points in a season
- Aston Martin hoping DRS fix works in Miami after Stroll manages fault in race
Poundinit
30th April 2023, 21:10
Aston really needs to stay right behind the Bulls all season – well, be at the front of the next-best pack. There will very likely be accidents and misfortunes for one of the Bulls in the future giving Alonso a chance to pip for 2nd or even 1st, if both have a misadventure. Being in the thick of it with Scuderia and Mercedes is a really good place for AMR. The team will hone its skills, consistency and capabilities meaning that only the car is holding it back. I believe AMR will have a Eureka! moment allowing it to challenge Red Bull mid-season.
RandomMallard
30th April 2023, 21:36
I think Aston will be very happy to come away with 4th and 7th in Baku, where considering their relative lack of straight line speed compared to others so far this season, many expected them to struggle. And to only finish 1 second behind a Ferrari for the final step of the podium is a pretty strong result. Seemed to be a lot of rubber-banding between the Astons, Mercs and Ferraris all race as well, with the gap shrinking then increasing repeatedly over the course of a few laps. Suggests following closely has indeed gotten more difficult again.
floodo1 (@floodo1)
2nd May 2023, 0:36
El Plan
stefano (@alfa145)
2nd May 2023, 11:46
I don’t know, they probably misjudged the moment when to carry the attack on Leclerc by one or two laps. 3rd place was definitely at reach with a couple more of drs straights
Asanator
4th May 2023, 11:40
Get used to it, When LeClers has a ‘normal’ race he will finish ahead 9 times out of 10 and take that last place on the podium.