Fernando Alonso led to one of the worst qualifying sessions of the season in Hungary. He could only be eighth and was passed by direct rivals like the McLaren and even the Alfa Romeo. And, although he does not shy away from the drop in performance of Aston Martinit does put the focus on the tires.
Pirelli was working on a new tire composition by 2024, harder and better resist the pressures of aerodynamics, but they advanced their work and introduced them at Silverstone. And the arrival of him, although for many it is not like that, has been able to affect the performance of some single-seaters according to Alonso.
The Asturian wanted to highlight first that the result is due to Aston Martin’s drop in performance: “We have to improve, there is no doubt that we have taken a step back in the last few races and that everyone has taken a step forward”.
And after acknowledging it, he attributed part of the blame to the new Pirelli tires: “Also it’s a coincidence that the new Pirelli tires arrived and there are a couple of teams that are struggling more and another couple who are very happy with the car now. It’s not just us I think Red Bull has clearly been hit with those tires. They’ve been in front in every session and now they’re not even on pole.”
“‘Czech’ is fighting to be in the top 10. At Silverstone I think Max Verstappen was only three seconds ahead of Lando Norris. So I see things a little abnormal from Silverstone“, he added.
Of course, Alonso did not put all the blame on the tires, but on the group: “I think you can feel the car a little different with the tires, but as I say sometimes, it’s hard to be neutral. Obviously we haven’t improved the car much compared to the main rivals.”
“But if I look back, Red Bullafter being first and second in all the sessions, now I think that all weekend they have not been in any of the sessions. That they have lost performance since Silverstone is a fact“, he concluded.
