Alonso was “relaxed” despite everything

Fernando Alonso He had a difficult qualifying session but it was not as bad as the result indicated (11th – although he will start 10th due to a penalty for Pérez). It is only necessary to see how calm he expressed in the corralito after the qualification. What is important to him is not the present, but what will come in the long run.

“We have been trying to improve the performance of the car. Sometimes we don’t add much and we focus on making the car less difficult to drive. They have been working together for a year and a half, we are still in that process of coming together to reach that which is higher. We are in a strong situation for the future. I am at peace but the present is what matters in motorsport, now it’s Barcelona and obviously it’s painful but I’m relaxed in terms of performance”

Regarding the weekend, where Aston Martin clearly suffered despite bringing improvements to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Alonso was very clear: they are where they should be. Miracles cannot be expected in Sunday’s race and the goal is to get into the points zone.

“Weekend of ups and downs. Especially after free practice 2, which in all the simulations we were between the 14th and the 18th. We found it to be a difficult weekend as we expected before coming .We’ve made some changes and I think the car has gotten pretty good but we still have a little way to go with confidence. In the end, making it 11 or 10 with Pérez’s penalty and on the verge of points was a better result than we expected.. In fact, after free practice 3 we had some doubts about Q1. That’s why on one of the two cars we chose to go with three sets of soft tires, which is usually a desperate measure. But we didn’t have confidence then when you were close to Q3 you were half happy. And I say half because when you run home you almost say with your little mouth that P11 will make you happyin. “We have to put in our elbows and in the next races we have some ideas of improvements to the car and until those come, we have to work to get points.”

“It’s difficult to overtake. We expect a very high relegation. It’s always like this at Barcelona. It’s time to run a smart race because it’s easy to get carried away with the excitement of running home. to throw maximum and attack and this can cause you to delay positions if you have too much damage. We will move between the eighth and the twelfth. I hope we will be the 8th or 9th.

Future careers

The Spanish GP was the first of a triplet completed by Austrian and British races. The sensations will not be better according to the Spanish. But Alonso remembers that time is very long and the panorama can change.

“We want to fight for the podiums and we want to finish the year on the podium. This year there is a lot of competition at the top and to achieve this you have to beat a lot of those teams to be on the podium and that is the goal. We have to -think big. Talking now about making a podium when you don’t even get into Q3 seems risky but we’re not even halfway through the year. But we’ve seen at McLaren the steps that can be taken if you can get things right. Now in Q2 I was a tenth away from fifth so in a race where you bring a pack of three or four you can put yourself in third or fourth. The championship is long but it’s hard to tell. Sports and racing are the present and you can’t wait for anything. So tomorrow it’s time to grit your teeth like in Austria or Silverstone. “Let’s hope it rains on some of them to make things better.”