News Summary
- Fernando Alonso says Aston Martin has been more competitive since Sepang, with encouraging pace in Austin and Mexico City.
- Alonso considers running between 12th and 14th a competitive weekend for Aston Martin and a realistic starting point for chasing points.
- Aston Martin retired both cars in Mexico. Alonso hopes to carry the improved pace into São Paulo and reach the chequered flag.
Fernando Alonso reckons Aston Martin can give itself a chance of scoring in São Paulo by starting and running somewhere between 12th and 14th. That was his answer when Tom Clarkson asked him on Thursday what a competitive weekend would look like for the team. Alonso had just described a run of improved performances stretching back to Sepang, but the pace that encouraged him in Mexico City counted for little once the race began.
“Yeah, I have to say that lately we’ve been more competitive. I think from since Sepang, probably Sepang was very good weekend. Singapore a little bit more difficult, but still a little bit better than the first part of the year, for sure. Austin was very strong the whole weekend even with the car that was damaged on the race we’re still competitive, and then as you said in Mexico. I think we found a good surprise in terms of performance, but reliability was not enough in Mexico,” Alonso said.
“Hopefully, we fix things here and less demanding circuit obviously with altitude and things like that so yeah, if we keep the trend and the momentum in the chassis and on the performance around the corners, hopefully we can have a competitive weekend and more importantly finish the race on Sunday.”
Alonso completed only five laps in Mexico after an MGU-K problem returned following qualifying. Lance Stroll also retired, leaving both Aston Martins out within the first seven laps. Interlagos offers a less demanding altitude than Mexico City, one reason Alonso gave for hoping Aston Martin can convert its pace into a full race distance.
Why Alonso points to Hirakawa’s result in Mexico
When Clarkson asked him to put a position on that improvement, Alonso cited Ryō Hirakawa. The Haas reserve made his F1 debut in Mexico and was classified tenth after post-race penalties. In Alonso’s assessment, Hirakawa had been around Aston Martin’s pace or behind it for much of the weekend. His point illustrated what can happen if a driver stays close enough to the top ten to benefit when positions open up.
“I think at this moment in time in the year, you know, when the cars are stable in terms of performance and upgrades. I think to be around P12, P13, P14, that’s more or less a competitive weekend for us, and if you race around those positions and you start around those positions I think points are possible, you know, because we saw in Mexico last week as well, you know, I think Ryo [Hirakawa] was around our place or behind, you know, our pace the whole weekend and you still score points, if you are, you know, around those positions.”
“So, that’s how we need to score points this year, you know, being in the right place at the right time, and to do so you need to be always, you know, close to the top of the midfield if you want to achieve that.”
Aston Martin will get its first read on the car in Friday practice at Interlagos, with FP1 at 15:30 GMT and FP2 at 19:00 GMT.
GRANDE PRÊMIO is covering every session of the São Paulo Grand Prix live from Interlagos. Follow our on-site coverage in Formula 1.
