Fernando Alonso Stars appeared on the cover of the French newspaper L’Equipe on the occasion of the Australian Grand Prix, which the Asturian pilot started. ahead of provisional classification After Free Training 2. In a comprehensive report, the two-time Spanish champion reveals some of his honest and idiosyncratic ‘phobias’.
not doing well Lewis HamiltonWho said this after the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Red Bull was the best single-seater of recent timesincluding his dominant Mercedes, in which he won six of his seven titles. “I disagree. I finished 20 seconds behind Checo and Max in Arabia, but he and Rosberg put us a minute behind the rest in 2014 and 2015. After two or three laps they lowered their performance to save their engine.” His memory is weak, he will grow old‘ frees Fernando to begin.
“With a normal car, you can tell Lewis has weaknesses. He had never competed with anyone, sometimes even with his partner. The driver with the most pole positions in history and George Russell beat him 2-0 in qualifying this season… and he didn’t forget to drive. This shows to what extent the vehicle is still an important factor,” explains Alonso.
Nor does he bite his tongue when talking about Otmar Szafnauer, his former boss at Alpine, who was one of those responsible for his departure from the French team. “Otmar certainly wouldn’t sign Newey … he’s 64,” he underlines, ironically underscoring the constant mention of Szafnauer at Alonso’s age, 41, as a factor that weighed on him when renewing him.
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“I feel like I’m 30 and better prepared than in 2003. He’s playing the role of Otmar, but that doesn’t suit me. I think he was 35 when Hamilton won his seventh title. The age factor should not give weight to the pilots. And Aston wasn’t afraid to bet on me”, Fernando argues.
However, it provides He doesn’t hold grudges against Alp He highlights the most glorious stage of his two championships with them under the acronym Renault, in 2005 and 2006: “They will always be my family, I have no grudges against Renault or Alpine. I wish we could understand each other. The others were better last year.” . I spoke to them in Australia to extend my contract… and didn’t get a response until July.”
“At Aston Martin, I expected to have a competitive car in a year or two.But it’s great to be in this situation in six months,” says Alonso, admitting after starting the season and his adventure in the green after two podiums in Bahrain and Arabia: “As soon as I got to Aston Martin, I anticipated the adaptation problem. . I had prepared. I told them about my driving style, about power steering. We’ve been working on it since January and preparing it in the simulator,” he explains.
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“Win? I’ll need the Red Bulls’ help, an accident or a breakdown, but we’ll still be competitive. I could never have imagined this three months ago. It’s incredible to have a car that can fight for the podium”, emphasizes Fernando of course when asked for the 33rd victory.
Evaluating his 20 seasons in F1 and his career overall, Alonso assures it is one of Aston Martin’s top picks: “Yes, absolutely. Aston is now a winning machine.” “But I also enjoyed the time Ferrari and Toyota won Le Mans twice at the WEC.”