Alonso can’t even explain what he did in Azerbaijan: “It was beyond logic”

Fernando Alonso he did it again. And he’s doing three races in a row. As time goes by, surely no one will remember them because they didn’t get on the podium, didn’t achieve success, didn’t even get pole position. I don’t have a car for this. But in three events, with a car that is still very far from what the two-time F1 champion deserves, he achieved a better result than expected in qualifying.

Emerson Fittipaldi described him for MD as “a lion of the circuits, a pure racer, always moving forward and always ready to attack”. With a car like he has now, he can be compared to a wounded lion, who despite not having a good car, or the best mid-range car, always follows his natural instinct to wait for the right moment to take advantage. . make the most of everything and attack with all your soul.

At Zandvoort, he got into Q3 with a car that was worst in the last sector and achieved points that Aston Martin believed to be almost impossible. At Monza, he dropped back to Q3 and narrowly missed out on the points on a track where his car had to suffer even more. And in Baku, the Spaniard once again roared in the shadows, fighting when he needed to and attacking when he needed to do so with a car that still did not give him confidence, between the scary walls of Baku, sliding in each corner opting for a configuration with less spoiler to be faster on the straight but which gave it less grip. He came as close as possible to the walls, to the limit, to show two moments of supreme clarity that neither he nor his team could explain. So, like a wounded lion attacking its prey, only listen to its natural instinct to survive.

More importantly, Fernando Alonso cannot explain what he did in Q2. The Asturian barely missed the cut in Q1, in 15th place, and would have been left in 16th position on the grid had Lando Norris made his last attempt. But he took advantage of the Briton’s mistake to finish in the top 15. then, On the wall of Aston Martin they found the Q3 almost impossible. Even Alonso says it’s complicated. Therefore, he took even more risks. Never stop believing. And then came the surprise, a stratospheric turnaround where he placed 5th.

“It’s more how you start the lap, how you go through the first corners… you go into a little trance and you go into each corner and everything is fine for you. I said this to Q2 on the team radio: after being 15th In Q1 we thought we’d be left in Q2 and suddenly we’re fifth. And I think that return is a little bit illogical, which sometimes happens (shrug) and now it happened in Q2. And then, well, but it will happen like the Monza race, which will happen completely anonymously (unnoticed), for sure.”he told ‘ESPN’, claiming classifications or races that are often overlooked, but due to pure piloting and merit, should be placed on the same level as the best.

Fernando is the best example of what he often repeats to the men in his agency, A14 Management. He told them that if they had the car to be 11th, they had to be 10th or better. If they have material third, they should go for success. Maximize the result and take advantage of every mistake made by rivals and every situation to improve the position you seek. And he did it again. A question of faith, struggle, morality, work and many, many talents.

“I am very happy with today’s classification. We have had a regular weekend…where we weren’t very fast either, following a little on the pace of the last races. Until we bring a significant improvement we are in a difficult moment, and here in Baku with low grip, the aerodynamic grip (downforce) is the same as in Monza: the ailerons, very little grip…. And even though it’s pretty much the same for everyone, when you have a car that doesn’t give you confidence in the final races, well in Baku you’ll pay dearly for that.”he then commented on ‘DAZN’. He fought with those weapons.

“In Q1 I was 15th, one position from the drop. If Norris had finished his lap, I think he wouldn’t have been in Q1. And then, however, in Q2 he was 5th. So it kind of shows that every lap is very close to each other, it’s not a lottery, but you have to do everything perfectly to get to the top. And if you do one or two things wrong, you’re depressed,” he added.

“It was one of those times on the limit, where we were lucky to finish in the top zone, but everything can change quickly tomorrow if we lose concentration,” he added.

RACE TARGET, WITH A LOW RHYTHE ON WILLIAMS

“The plan will be to finish in the points. We came out eighth, already in the points, and it would be good not to lose that position. But I am aware that we are not the 8th fastest car, in yesterday’s session Albon was Mga 8 tenths faster than me for a long time: he passed me and left behind me, having them behind for 52 laps was quite difficult.

OPTION FOR HIGHER STRAIGHT SPEEDS

“It will help me defend myself, surely. We discussed before the time trial what strategy to follow. We lost 1.8 with the big guys and then we recovered four tenths in the last sector. And we thought that if we put a bigger wing, we can still make up three or four tenths in the middle sector and we beat them in the last sector so the lap time is the same, but looking forward to tomorrow I think that having speed in the last sector will help both of us to overtake and. to protect ourselves tomorrow, our tires will also cut more because we slip in the corners, but hey, I’m happy with this decision, let’s defend ourselves and what will happen, because things can happen in Baku too, there are always safety vehicles and moments of safety and in moments of chaos you have to stay calm.

YOU MUST DEFEND YOURSELF

“It will be a defensive race because Williams in the long run is faster than us and wears tires less, so they both have everything to score points. And at any start, if there are safety cars, with a little bit. The wing always helps you in hand-to-hand combat and hopefully we can use it.”

DIRTY TRACK

“The less wing you have and the faster the circuit, the better it is for you, but we found that throughout the weekend we had very little grip for whatever reason. We were 3 seconds slower than last year in each session so that all teams are a little dirty.