Alonso: “The 33? We have a car that will give us options this year”

Fernando Alonso believes in 33. It wasn’t because of Monaco that he grabbed his long-awaited 33rd F1 victory. He believed because of the confirmation of his car’s excellent performance in the first 6 races. Add 4 third positions and a second place, with a total of 5 podiums in 6 races and fourth place as the worst result of the year. Mr consistency, they call it. Due to this regularity, he arrived at Barcelona, ​​​​​​​​the 7th race of the course, with only 12 points. Maintains the team’s defensive strategy in Monaco because of the uncertainty of the moment in which he should put the intermediate wheels and mount the dry ones. No one knew it was going to rain and, as Fernando remembers, he didn’t have a crystal ball. He smiled on the podium in Monaco and he continues to do so before the most special event, the one at home in Barcelona. In it, he came along “the unknown” to find out if on a traditional track he will be able to continue fighting behind Red Bull, because after some urban tracks, with nnew things that Mercedes showed in Monaco and what Ferrari will bring to Montmeló, nobody knows until the cars touch the track this Friday. However, if he is sure of one thing, it is that after coming close to winning in Monaco, “Many opportunities will come”. He believes in 33. Not in Barcelona, ​​​​​​where it is clear that for this to happen, the two Red Bulls must have problems and do their part.

“The public’s euphoria for 33? You can’t stop it. It’s going to be impossible. It’s like putting a barrier in the sea. Eventually, everything will beat you. In the world we live in, if there’s a trend and the fans follow it the path, it’s better to embrace it and follow that path than to put a door. There’s a lot of talk about 33. I’m calm, I know we have a car that will give us opportunities this year. Hopefully”, he told Spanish press present in Circuit.

“Red Bull is now leading with iron hands, but we have seen in recent years with very dominant cars Gasly won a race in Monza and Ocon won a race in Hungary, last year Russell won a race in Brazil… so, chances are they will come at some point in the season. In Monaco we are close and they will come later. So don’t worry, but what we can’t do is if our best position in a race or the best we can achieve this weekend is 5th, we can’t go crazy or have a moment of frustration and end up 9th because of a mistake, for taking too much risk or -leaving turn 9 trying to pass in a place where you can’t. So, we are going to continue adding points and we do the math at the end of the year”, he added.

Of course, he remembered that none of his fans should panic if in any race his car was behind a Ferrari or a Mercedes.

“I’m very happy. And second from Monaco, very happy. And the bad weekend is coming, hey! And I don’t know if it will be or it will be one, there will be two Red Bulls, two Ferraris and two Mercedes and maybe 7th or we are 8th there. And I will continue to be happy. Because the project is more long-term and not from weekend to weekend. That could be other teams, who will go in the short term. We have a mission and it is more long-term,” he argued in this regard.

At this point, Alonso said that he is still the same as a year ago, where the points may not show it, but according to him, he drove better in the first rounds. But the car is missing. “But things change. And not in terms of the driver, it’s not that I’ve changed anything this winter and Hamilton hasn’t changed at all since he was struggling with 7 World Championships in a row and now he’s fighting to get a scratch podium, I don’ t think he forgot to drive. But the car is very important, as it always has been in this sport.”

“Since I came back in 2021, I feel good in terms of benefits. Last year, I think it was one of my best years and the points will never tell, but in terms of performance and in terms of driving I prefer 2022 compared to 2023, and see that there are differences in results. Here in 2022 I think it will be the first race to get points, it will be in Bahrain and then in Barcelona, ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ And I think I had a better race in Jeddah, better race and better time in Australia last year, in Monaco I think it was better this year… but in the first 6 race I think only in Monaco I drove better than last year. So, the importance of the car is what we say…”.

A PERFECT TEAM COMMUNION

Also, to MD’s questionthe Asturian referred to his association with the Aston Martin team as one of the best he remembers from his early years at Renault or the perfection and camaraderie he found at Toyota in the World Endurance Championship.

“?One of the best communions? Definitely yes. We have a technical team with a lot of talent and experience, and also because we found ourselves in a position that we did not expect. We want this year to maybe recognize the new concept they designed and give it some time and evolve it, and in 2024 try to fight for the podiums. That was the goal when I first went to the Aston Martin factory.”.

“We had a meeting there and we talked about it. So, finding ourselves here today is a nice surprise. The goal of the year was not fulfilled a bit, but we have more or less enough points or more points than we thought. we will get the whole championship. So now it’s a gift almost every weekend. And being in this position makes you communicate well with the team, which are all young , we have a very young team of mechanics and engineers, First of them Racing Point and then Force India, who have never been regular on the podiums. And that’s why they live it with great enthusiasm and it’s something beautiful to look at. And that’s why I’m probably comfortable”, he said about it.

MONACO’S STRATEGY: DEFEND THE TEAM

“I think it was the right decision. Maybe if you have a crystal ball, you know the conditions, and you know who’s going to stop and what they’re going to put and then it finally rains and you know you need the intermediates, I 100% wish I had put those intermediate. But what I don’t like about F1 is that everything is seen in a negative light. For example: if we stop and in Monaco we put the intermediates, this weekend the whole world will only talk about Red Bull’s wrong decision to stop one lap later. No one will say that Aston Martin was so brave and chose the right wheel. Everyone would have talked about Verstappen stopping a lap later. It is a mental matter of the limitless search for perfection that we sometimes want to reach. If you put yourself in our shoes, and you have half of the track starting to be wet and the other half is dry and you have a free stop and everyone puts on dry tires, if you put on dry ones you hold the position. If you put the intermediates and then it didn’t rain, I hope we stopped again to put the dry ones and we finished in 7th position. So if we made the wrong decision and came second in Monaco … we took it. But yes, if we had watched the race again on television, we would have placed intermediates. 100% yes. It’s better. But at that moment… why didn’t Verstappen stop to put in intermissions at that moment and do another lap? Hard to say. But the most important thing is that in every race we did not give enough value to the teams’ achievements in very stressful moments. You only speak when you’re wrong.”

HAPPY STARTING IT

“I feel happy, happy, logical, get good results, fight for podiums, celebrate again with champagne and be rewarded. But in the end it depends a bit on the car you have and this year you have to enjoy the benefits we have at present”.

AFTER THREE URBAN CIRCUITS, PERMANENT LINES. WILL ANYTHING CHANGE?

“Certainly things will change, and how the cars have evolved, because maybe we haven’t seen the real picture of the performance of the cars. Because even we, if we look at the free practice or the time trial in Baku, Ferrari was ahead of us, with Leclerc taking 8 tenths of a second from us on pole. In Miami they were faster than us in all free practice but then we got to the front row. And in Monaco, they were faster than us but we ended up fighting for pole position and when you start on the front row in Monaco you stay there. So, it’s a bit confusing with the performance of Ferrari, and also Mercedes, who were doing well for example in Australia, who finished second and without the first ‘Safety’ or the red flag, Russell led the race, and if today they introduced a package of improvements it is because their data says that the new car is better than on that one. So they also have to go pretty fast here. I don’t know if the last three circuits, being urban, have changed the picture a little bit and here we are going back a little bit to reality and we are still behind them or we can stay in a solid position. A bit unknown.”

THE FIGHT FOR POLE IN MONACO, A MAGICAL MOMENT

“Ultimately, I think our strong point this year, and it always has been, is trying to get the most out of the car. If our car is close to finishing third, it would be a sin to finish fifth because of our mistake. If the car would be 7th, we couldn’t do 11th because we didn’t start or were blocked somewhere. This year in time trials and racing we did what was needed at that time or if what is the most efficient at that time. In Monaco, what I have to do is to do everything on Saturday, because after Sunday, you have to maintain the position. And with the second set of soft tires on Saturday, the risk is greater in you than what your head tells you. When you come into a corner, you let off the brakes, you know the last lap you went in… if you let off the brakes and they come into the corner at that speed, you’re going to crash. But you hope that with the evolution of the track and the grip, you’ll go about 3 or 4 km/h faster in that corner, or maybe you’ll touch the wall, but this is the moment to try to do it. But we all do. Max (Verstappen), too. Ocon, it was definitely the most unusual lap on Saturday because I don’t think Alpne was there to finish third and it’s good, it gives you a different adrenaline rush, because in Monaco and on the urban circuits the track improves throughout weekend and the fastest lap we did in practice was 1’12″6 and we ended up doing 1’11″4. You’re going through corners at a speed you haven’t experienced all weekend. So, see what happens. A ‘plant’.