It was by no means the best track for aston martin. It was not the ideal place. It was not, seeing the virtues and the defects of the AMR23, the perfect circuit for Fernando Alonso. For him to reach 33. Even to sneak into a podium. Yeah, he wasn’t. it wasn’t because in Baku, in Azerbaijan, there is the straight line longest in the World Cup.
There is the Achilles heel of the Silverstone car. The big ‘must’. The place to play to have a winning and champion car. Because the DRS is what it is. And in the green car it worked, at least as far as the race is concerned, but not as much as it works in the Red Bull.
because really gives wings to Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez. Because that element, that vital element for today’s racing, puts a car in orbit that directly took the stickers off the Ferrari. To that of Charles Leclerc. That of the driver who took pole position on Friday for the race.
Alonso, the three in one of Aston Martin
He was not a rival. Nobody is a match for Red Bull unless something happens. And no one is a match for the intelligence of Fernando Alonso when he gets into a Formula 1 car. When, in the Aston Martin, he shows more and more to be a pilot, to be an engineer and also to be a strategist. Being a three in one.
To be what a Formula 1 team wants so badly. To be someone who interpret perfectly what happens or what can happen on the track. That made. It’s obvious. She saw it from his position. After Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes. After a car that seemed unreachable in February and is now behind.
What a great job they have done at Aston Martin. What an enormous effort they have made at Silverstone and what a good vibe it feels in that team. Yeah, Same as Alpine. Yes, it was the same to see Alonso fight Lewis in Baku than in Hungary in 2021. It was the same to see how he would defend himself at the Hungaroring than how was going to attack in Azerbaijan.
From there he saw how Lewis’s tires were going to go to hell. From there he knew that I just had to wait to be patient She didn’t have to worry about what was after him. It was Stroll, and Stroll already said he wasn’t going to attack him. Hamilton’s tires, KO The seven-time champion, to the pits. And he entered so as not to see how Alonso passed him like a missile.
Alonso, unstoppable for Sainz
Then the ‘safety car’ arrived. Then came the big moment. The Alonso moment. The one that can put him back as the best of April in terms of overtaking is concerned. Because the ax blow that he unleashed on Carlos Sainz at turn 4 when the safety car went off it was simply master. It was impossible for everyone except him. Less for someone who passed from being sixth to fourth on his own merits and that he wanted more.
That he could have had more, because he entered the finish line with the DRS open and with Charles Leclerc less than a second away. With the option of having even the fastest lap that he even scored up to twice. Yes, the Aston Martin, in what could well be the worst track of all those that make up the start of the World Cup, more than fulfilled.
Miami next stop
He did it thanks to a Fernando Alonso who did not make a single mistake in the 51 laps that the Azerbaijan GP lasts. that while others Verstappen included, they touched the walls and the protections, he kept an AMR23 spotless that already points to Miami. That he has, at the Florida track, a great opportunity to achieve something great.
