Fernando Alonso is not shining as expected in Austria. The improvements that Aston Martin introduced in Canada, which the Asturian driver clamped down very well there, did not have the same effect on the Red Bull Ring and this Saturday’s long straights. two-time world champion formula 1 struggled to close the top five in the first race of the weekendA very intense and rain-affected sprint of 24 laps. After Friday’s tough qualifying session, he realizes that the podium is a less realistic goal this time around. Accumulate six in the previous eight races. “It doesn’t look like our best track in terms of competitiveness. But this Saturday, Lance was fourth and I was fifth, with good points for the team. Three more points from Ferrari and eight more points from Mercedes is a good result for us.” Aston Martin”, valued.
This Saturday, Alonso started sixth due to Leclerc’s suspension and risked an outside maneuver at the start, but faced Norris’ McLaren and lost a few positions that made it difficult for him to come back:Turn three was chaos. Maybe Lando’s anti-stall exploded and something went wrong.. So I had to go out on the run to avoid Albon,” he summed up.
Stroll won the position and from there a good fight between the two Aston Martins started and the Canadian got away with it: “When you fight with your partner, you always hold back a little, you take extra care. I would need another round, a chance with DRS. I was fast in Turn seven, but it wasn’t a good point. It was tight but fun,” he explained.
On the possibility of wearing dry tires at the end of the race, following the strategy of some drivers, “We thought, we were skeptical, but you only had to recover 20-22 seconds in six laps,” Alonso said. The Asturian driver, with Nico one second ahead of me and one second behind, shows that the overall time in the race will be similar.”
In key to Sunday, Alonso highlighted: the goal is again to directly defeat their opponents; mercedes and ferrari. “Tomorrow will be tough again, definitely a dry race and some very fast Ferraris, but if we get more points from them and Mercedes, it will be a good Sunday again.”