Alonso, to stop Red Bull in Melbourne

Fernando Alonsoa great contender in the 41 years since the start of the Formula One World Championship, with two podiums in his first two races with Aston Martin, will try to stop the dominant red bull -for whom the Mexican Sergio Pérez led the new double two Sundays ago in Saudi Arabia- in Australian Grand Prixwhich takes place this weekend in Melbourne.

‘Czech’The 33-year-old secured his fifth victory since running in F1 two weeks ago, starting from pole position, by shining through the night in Jeddah. On an urban track where his partner, the Dutchman Max Verstappen -winner in Bahrain-, retained the lead in the World Championship after coming back from fifteenth place on the grid; and only after scoring (in the last one) the fastest lap in the race. That gives him an advantage of one point over the Mexican in the standings of the tournament (44-43).

alonsothird in the World Cup, with 30 points, signed in Arabia -where his countryman Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) was sixth – his hundredth podium in the premier class. The second in just two weeks; the third in one year and four months (since Qatar 2021); and the fourth in almost nine: a space of time that has passed since he achieved in his last year at Ferrari, 2014, when he was second in Hungary.

alonso signed on the shores of the Red Sea a round-trip podium, which he won on the track and regained afterwards – just as he celebrated third place at the awards ceremony, with Verstappen already ‘Czech’– punish him for ten seconds. So for some time the third place is from English George Russell (Mercedes), finally fourth in Jeddah.

alonso He was penalized five seconds for imperfectly framing the AMR23 in its box (the second) on the starting grid. While he was serving that penalty, during his ‘pit stop’, one of his mechanics jacked his car; therefore, after failing to do so for 35 laps, they announced, after the podium ceremony, the imposition of a second penalty of another ten seconds.

Ferdinand, who initially overtook ‘Checo’ -who later regained first place- was not shocked by a ridiculous penalty, delighted to see that his car, after reaching Sakhir -a rather abrasive track with a few slow curves-, it also went well in Jeddah. On a circuit, the fastest of the urban ones, with very different characteristics from the previous one, with less wear on the tires.

Aston Martin reacted quickly after the race in Jeddah. He presented up to seven audiovisual evidence of as many cars that, in the same situation as Alonso experienced, did not receive any penalty; and the FIA ​​​​(International Automobile Federation) had no choice but to rectify and restore third place to the brilliant Asturian driver -in his twentieth season in F1, after two absences: where he won, among others, the World Endurance Championship (WEC) and (twice) the 24 Hours of Le Mans (France)-. He learned the news when he was on a plane leaving Saudi Arabia.

F1, where the Spanish language is becoming increasingly important (Sainz occupies fourth place overall, with 20 points: the same as the seven-time English world champion Lewis Hamilton, from Mercedes), comes today weekend in his third stage of the season: the semi-urban circuit of Albert Park.

The one in Melbourne is a track of 5,278 meters and fourteen curves (five of them on the left); traction and medium-speed corners, where top speed is not so decisive. And where, in the dry – on Tuesday it rained in the capital of the state of Victoria -, it will shoot tires of the range of intermediate compounds. The same used in Jeddah; namely: the C2 (hard, distinguished by a white stripe), the C3 (medium, yellow stripe) and the C4 (soft, red).

Due to the characteristics of the track, different from the previous ones; After this Grand Prix, it is possible to have a more approximate projection of what to expect from a season, the longest in history, which closes in Abu Dhabi on November 26 after a total of 23 races.

alonso returns to the circuit where he made his F1 debut 22 years ago; and where he achieved, in 2006 -the year of his second title- one of his 32 victories in the premier class, where he got the first almost twenty years ago; and the latter is about ten.

At Albert Park, last year ‘Checo’ finished second, behind Monegasque charles leclercpartner of Sainz in Ferrari. The most successful team in history, never going beyond fourth place in the Constructors’ World Championship, clearly led by Red Bull; and where Aston Martin and Mercedes share second place.

In Australia, Fernando also experienced the most spectacular accident of his F1 career, in 2016; when, after playing, when he caught up with him, the Mexican Haas, Esteban Gutiérrez, shot, turned several times; before leaving, thankfully, almost unscathed (given the scale of the disaster) from the McLaren he was driving that season.

Free practice for the third Grand Prix of the course will start on Friday (in the evening from Thursday to Friday, Central European time) and will be completed on Saturday, hours before qualifying; which will dictate the beginning of career development. Scheduled for 58 laps, to complete a 308.1-kilometer route; and whose departure will be given at 05:00 GMT: seven in the morning Spanish peninsular time.

alonso will be the center of attention again. It does not leave a cold. And from Miami (USA) he received a message of support from another great player in Spanish sports: the number one in world tennis, Carlos Alcaraz, a star from Murcia; who signed in the chamber after eliminating the American Tommy Paul in the round of 16 of the Florida tournament, he warned that “the 33rd will arrive soon”. In clear reference to the following achievement of the Asturian genius; eagerly awaited by all his followers.