Nobody rode as much as the Asturian in Bahrain and his pace in the long runs was encouraging, but the rivals also hid their assets.
Every winter, F1 teams repeat the same warning: the goal of pre-season testing is to lay the foundations for the future. So any analysis has to focus more on the kilometers accumulated and the reliability of the engines than on the spectacular fast laps. All data must be carefully evaluated. However, it would not be appropriate to ignore the striking growth of Aston Martin and Fernando Alonso in the Bahrain tests. A week before the start of the World Cup, the Anglo-Austrian team is shaping up to compete with Mercedes for the podium places left vacant by Red Bull and Ferrari.
The knock from Aston Martin, the main entertainer from Thursday to Saturday, has been even louder given the high level of the tests. And it is that nothing seemed to escape the control of the engineers in Sakhir. After just over 24 hours of activity on the track, the commissioners only had to display three red flags. And even the most backward teams on the grid were around an average of 100 laps a day. Nothing to do with those McLaren hardships in 2015 and 2017 or with Red Bull’s hot flashes to adapt in 2014 to the demands of the hybrid era. In this context of fierce competition, the AMR23 has stood out above the rest. And the first surprised has been Alonso himself.
It is not that the Asturian mistrusted the hours of strenuous work in the Silverstone factory or the talent of the staff incorporated throughout 2022, with Dan Fallows and Eric Blandin -coming from Red Bull and Mercedes- in the lead. But after his recent fiascos at McLaren and Alpine, Alonso preferred to keep his optimism indoors. He wanted to hide his cards so much that in the last long run on Saturday, the race simulation, he started with excessive caution. And only when he discovered the fantastic positive momentum did he squeeze the power out of the car until he found an extremely competitive pace.
Drugovich’s problem
Unlike last winter, when heavy smoke exposed the structural deficiencies of his Alpine, Alonso has not suffered any serious breakdowns at Sakhir. Only a setback on the flat bottom, which did not prevent him from setting the lap record (270). The main headache for Aston Martin was the electronic problem of Philip Drugovich during his first lap on Thursday and which ended up dropping him to the third from last place in the ranking, with 387 laps, far from the maximum of AlphaTauri (456).
Nothing worrisome, in any case, for a car that, according to what he said Mike Krack during its presentation, it has changed by 95% compared to that of 2022. To that notice of the main team another warning from Fallows was added: “Two thirds of the car will be modified in the course of the season.” So with a strong foundation like this, every update should bring new momentum. Although precedents are also remembered -ask at Ferrari- that point in the opposite direction.
In any case, anyone in the paddock he knows that, as a starting point, a fast car is always preferable in pre-season. Even if it breaks more times than another slow. Therefore, it does not seem by chance that Alonso’s last message in the tests pointed in that direction: “We feel that there is a long way to go from AMR23 and that we have not had enough time to show it here.”
Nor Mercedes, as has been the norm in Toto Wolff, he wanted to offer too many clues, or waste his bullets. One year after the stormy experience with the porposing, the aerodynamic concept of this W14 is not so groundbreaking. McLaren doesn’t seem to have hit the mark either, so the last team with a chance to climb to the top-3 is still Alpine. and for now otmar szafnauer, main teamHe has only slipped, perhaps sarcastically, that they don’t empty the tank in search of a quick ride.
Fallows and Blandin
Whether or not they are relevant, there are those who have dared to draw parallels between Aston Martin and that Brawn GP of 2009, which coming out of nowhere and taking advantage of a loophole in the regulations made champion Jenson Button. Of course, the comparison seems exaggerated, although it is also not convenient to forget the spectacular recovery of the team after a terrible start in 2022 and the perfect coupling of their signings. It is obvious that the design of the green car merges the most select of Red Bull and Mercedes. And he does it for a simple reason: both Fallows and Blandin brought their best ideas from Milton Keynes and Brackley.
With Red Bull almost in the stratosphere and no evidence that Ferrari or Mercedes have made enough progress, max verstappen part in the best disposition to stick his third crown, with which he would equalize Ayrton senna, Nelson Piquet, Niki Lauda, Jackie Stewart and Jack Brabham. In the middle of an all-out war between F1 and the FIA, the worst news for the World Cup will be that Mad Max consolidate his overwhelming dominance. Even so, thousands of fans dream that Alonso, a decade later, can add, at the age of 41, his 33rd victory in the Great Circus.
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