The keys hidden in the result of Alonso and his Aston Martin in Baku

Fernando Alonso he remained at 8 tenths of third position at leclerc. In a weekend that was not the best for Aston Martin, the car once again performed very well in Sunday’s race and that is a positive point that Fernando Alonso wants to highlight. He was on the verge of achieving his fourth podium in four races, and it was in Baku that many factors came together that could harm the green car.

The first, the DRS problemwhich prevented Alonso from aiming for the fourth starting spot in qualifying.

The second, the fact that there is only one free training session, because in a traditional weekend they can have more time to solve their DRS problem and find the key to the performance of their car, which, as Alonso said, was not very fast in all the sessions compared to other Grands Awards. Of course, the fact that there is only one free training session is something that can affect all teams.

The ‘Safety Car’ came at a bad time for Alonso

The third element that affected Alonso’s podium chances was accidental: the ‘Safety Car’ appeared when Fernando had his best Grand Prix chance back. Just then his rivals start or should start suffering from tire wear. Just as Fernando was able to draw his sharp sword at a crucial moment, the rescue vehicle arrived.

This is how Alonso assured it: “The strength of the car is still the tire wear, which seems to be better than the others. Unfortunately, in the ‘Safety Car’, everyone puts hard tires and that rubber is very strong until the end. If without that ‘Safety Car’.’, I think the Ferraris are struggling a lot in the early part of the race… so maybe Miami is a better opportunity for us.” commented Alonso.

Alonso reflected

The Asturian was pleased to see the huge step forward his car made in the race, with a better performance than it showed after one lap in qualifying and in other sessions. This little wear and tear again makes a difference. Because of this, Alonso left an important reflection: “I think the weekend may not be as competitive as the first three races, but even I think today in the race the pace of the car is very good, very strong and we challenged for the podium, only one second to Charles. . That is very encouraging for us.”

“In a bad weekend for Aston Martin, we are fighting for the podium against one of the best weekends for Ferrari. They are in pole position for the sprint race, pole position for the feature race and a just seconds behind us. on Sunday, great news.”

Doubt: sector 2

Only one question remains to be resolved: the performance of the car in sector 2, the most twisty and with slow corners. Theoretically, that should be a sector where the Silverstone car should make a difference. “You don’t have to focus on DRS. It’s a technical issue, but overall I don’t think we were quick enough in the second sector, which is not a DRS sector.”

Classification is key

Alonso’s podium would obviously have been more possible if he had managed to qualify better than 6th place. That’s where DRS had an influence. Alonso, on Saturday, was clear that if the DRS worked, he had a car to be 4th in qualifying. And from the fourth place, with better racing speed and less degradation compared to Mercedes and Ferrari, the podium should be given. I taught it Mike Krack, Aston Martin Team Principal: “If you start behind cars that are very close to you, it will be a very difficult game. We have seen it before, in the last races, that you have to start later.

Huge last attack with great times

Aston Martin should continue to improve by a lap to facilitate the work they have to do in the race, where they are once again the second best car. This was seen in a large part of the appointment, copying the times of red bull, or in his last attack for Leclerc. He was more than 3 seconds behind Leclerc because he decided to open a small gap between him and Charles to ride in clean air, and when he decided to attack, he did it big.

He finished 0″ 8 after some massive turns, again replicating Milton Keynes times. No one doubts that if the GP had lasted a few more laps, Alonso could have attacked leclerc to fight for the podium. In this sense, it is clear to Alonso that the clouds that appeared at the end in the sky of rawwhich lowered the temperature of the track and was able to reduce the wear and tear that Charles’ tires were expected to experience.

The times don’t lie. Alonso lapped times of 1’44” from lap 41, with 10 to go. Meanwhile, Leclerc was more inconsistent. On laps 47 and 48, Leclerc was under 1’45” and Alonso was 1’44”. 8 and 1′ 44″241, his career best lap, with two laps to go. Alonso followed with 1’44″439 and 1’44″273 in the last two laps, while Leclerc set 1’44″977 and 1’45″409 in his last two laps. The final rhythm was so good that it was superior to the winner, Pérez.