“We have had a car just enough to fight with AlphaTauri, and that is not enough to achieve ’33’ or anything like that”
MADRID, 26 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish Formula 1 driver Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) has confessed that he does not remember a season “as good” as this one, in which he has finished fourth in the Drivers’ World Championship, since 2012, in Ferrari, and has assured that they must improve the performance of the car for next year, since in this Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, in which he finished seventh, they have had “a fair car to fight with AlphaTauri” and that “is not enough to achieve ’33’ nor nothing like it”.
“The season is ‘out of 10’, along with 2012, I don’t remember another season as good as this one on a personal level: eight podiums, almost 300 points for the team. It is the best season in the history of Aston Martin or other names that he had before Aston Martin, like Racing Point or Force India, so I am very proud. Twelve months ago, when I was testing the Aston Martin for the first time, who would have told me that I would be here, ‘Top 5’, in the World Cup,” he said in statements to DAZN.
In this sense, he stated that the season has been “incredible regardless of how the race would have been” this Sunday. “Fourth place in the Drivers’ World Championship doesn’t change anything; in the Constructors we needed to put a little more effort into McLaren, but they went much faster this weekend, they deserve to finish fourth and we will try next year,” he indicated. .
In addition, he appealed for calm in the search for his 33rd victory in Formula 1. “There was already a year of 33, let’s see if next year we start calmer with the little number,” he said with a laugh. “We have to do a good job now, we have a lot of homework to do in the coming months, the car has not finished as strong as we started the season and we have to understand that well. Today we had a fair car to fight with AlphaTauri until the last return, and that is not enough to achieve ’33’ or anything like that. We have to get our act together,” he said.
Regarding this Sunday’s race in Yas Marina, he stated that from the beginning they were “in traffic with Tsunoda and with the McLarens.” “We had Gasly behind us, we were going a little with our tongues out to try to keep up with the pace. I saw that the tires were not going to last to make a stop, and on lap 16 we stopped and started the domino effect, everyone started to stop too,” he said.
“During the entire race I was always with a little traffic, in front or behind, there was always a battle, I never had a moment of relaxation. The battles were bad for us because we were the slowest car all weekend, also in Las Vegas “Also in Brazil, our weak point this year has undoubtedly been top speed, and when you battle with someone you suffer a little more. But we managed to overtake Hamilton and Tsunoda in this last ‘stint’,” he continued.
He also explained what his fight was like with the British Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes). “He protested in turn 5, where I braked, I was trying to give him DRS to be able to overtake him; we already did it in Canada in 2012, and 11 years later we played the same game of cat and mouse on the DRS line. He has a lot of quality and a lot of experience, but I have more,” he concluded.