Home weekend to forget
He certainly dreamed of a different home GP Fernando Alonso. Finishing 12th, lapped, after battling with Haas and Sauber is not what the veteran two-time world champion would have wanted to give to the Iberian fans in that pool of passion that is the Barcelona circuit. However, this is Aston Martin’s situation at the moment. The step backwards compared to 2023 is evident and the new developments that should allow a new leap forward for the Silverstone team are expected shortly before the summer break.
Funerals and barbs
But a lion rarely lowers his head in difficulties and so Alonso did not hold back in the press conference after the match nips here and there, to journalists but also to top teams such as McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari, who however are unable to break Max Verstappen’s dominance despite a clear rapprochement in terms of on-track performance with Red Bull. “For the next two races (Austria and Great Britain, which will all be one after the other without a weekend break) nI don’t expect anything – Alonso declared to the journalists of the Iberian newspaper AS – I expect a mini-funeral at every press conference“.
“We are doing everything we can – the #14 of Oviedo then continued – we’re not happy about finishing out of the points here. But let’s be pragmatic, let’s learn the lessons for the future“. So, here’s the lash in full ‘Alonso style’: “The only one who is happy here is Verstappen. Norris is improving a lot but didn’t win the race, Mercedes took a step forward but is light years away from Red Bull and the fight for the championship. Ferrari is a super team but they’re not even on the podium“.
In search of balance
There key to overcoming these complicated momentsaccording to Alonso, must be theequilibrium: “The car is difficult to drive because it has no grip, but we have to accept that. We cannot experience continuous elation every Sunday if we are fighting for a good position or depression if we are not in the points. The real race is over the long distance: we have to finish the year well because this dictates the start of 2025. At other times last year’s improvements surprised us, they didn’t do what we expected, but now we have come to understand the why and wherefore of a lot of those questions and we’re confident about what’s to come in the future. But these are just words, facts are worth more.”concluded the champion from Oviedo.
