Fernando Alonso loved his greatest season in a decade in 2023, taking eight podiums on his method to fourth within the championship in a remarkably profitable begin to his time at Aston Martin.
However because the 12 months progressed, Aston Martin slowly slipped additional and additional again from their rivals on the entrance of the sphere as Ferrari, Mercedes and even McLaren discovered extra tempo.
Sadly for Alonso and his staff, they didn’t appear to search out any momentum over the winter. Whereas Aston Martin stay the fifth-placed staff within the championship, they’re now a distant fifth – Alonso and staff mate Lance Stroll now additional adrift of their rivals forward than they had been on the finish of final season.
Alonso has made his profession out of placing in distinctive drives in underwhelming automobiles. Regardless of the difficulties Aston Martin have had thus far this season, he has actually put in some excellent performances at factors within the first 14 rounds of the championship.
The primary got here as early because the second spherical in Saudi Arabia, which was typical of the sorts of weekends he had all through final 12 months. He certified on the second row of the grid in fourth, then put in maybe one of the best efficiency of anybody not named Max Verstappen on Sunday to complete in fifth, forward of each Mercedes, Oliver Bearman’s Ferrari and Lando Norris’s McLaren.
Alonso was additionally on kind in Japan, the place he certified the automobile within the high 5 once more and beat George Russell, Oscar Piastri and Lewis Hamilton house to the chequered flag by a matter of seconds. Third place on the grid for each the dash race and the grand prix in China was additional proof of his expertise, earlier than he secured one other high six end in Montreal after holding off Hamilton in a quicker Mercedes for over 20 laps.
Nonetheless, that’s to not say Alonso maximised the efficiency of his automobile – and even himself – each weekend over the primary half of the season. Atypically for the double world champion, there have been nearly as many cases the place he gave the impression to be missing in velocity in comparison with staff mate Stroll as there have been the place Alonso was clearly forward.
Fernando Alonso
Greatest
Worst
GP begin
4
14
GP end
5
19
Factors
49
The primary occasion was in Melbourne, the place a uncommon mistake in qualifying left him behind Stroll on the grid earlier than he was demoted to eighth after a controversial post-race penalty for what the stewards decided was “doubtlessly harmful” driving in his artistic defence from Russell within the closing laps. He induced heavy harm to his automobile in Imola by spinning off on the second Rivazza in closing follow, then was knocked out nineteenth in qualifying. Essentially the most skilled driver in F1 historical past was then responsible of one of many clumsiest errors of the season when he bumped into Zhou Guanyu at flip three in Austria to spoil his grand prix with a deserved ten second penalty.
Abruptly, Stroll was a lot nearer to Alonso than he had been earlier than of their year-and-a-half collectively as staff mates. Stroll completed forward of him at Silverstone, then cheekily pinched the ultimate level off his staff mate on the Hungaroring by refusing a direct order to return a place to Alonso on the finish of the race. A minimum of Alonso went into the summer time break on a excessive, ending because the ‘better of the remainder’ in ninth, which was 4 factors in eighth following Russell’s disqualification.
Though Alonso clearly continues to have the identical excessive upside as ever, it’s solely extra conspicuous when he doesn’t fairly attain the identical lofty ranges of efficiency that he so usually has. As Aston Martin attempt to construct themselves again to the entrance, they may do with extra of Alonso at his greatest over the ultimate rounds of the season.
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