A “weight has been lifted off the shoulders” of Aston Martin
following its improved performance so far in the Sao Paulo Grand
Prix, according to Fernando Alonso. Aston Martin’s slump in
performance continued in the Mexico City race with no points scored
on what was the team’s worst showing of the season. However, during
the Interlagos weekend, the AMR23 has been a competitive package,
with Lance Stroll and Alonso qualifying third and fourth for the
Grand Prix. While Alonso could not score points in the Sprint, he
climbed from 15th to 11th and was a few seconds behind the final
points-scorer Carlos Sainz. Alonso is battling Sainz and Lando
Norris for fourth in the Drivers’, with Sainz leading the way but
the two-time World Champion has seen encouraging signs from the car
as the team looks to rally and end the season in good form
following its excellent start. Alonso’s relief at Aston gains “We
are more competitive, we are a bit happier with the car, and we
seem more competitive since FP1, so we will take some extra
confidence into the race,” Alonso told media including
RacingNews365. “The triple-header obviously put a lot of stress on
everyone. It is difficult to analyse data, difficult to go back to
the factory and unite the team but the team was working to solve
the problems and find solutions – and the performance here in
Brazil is going in the right direction. “Especially after this
race, it is some kind of relief, some weight off the shoulders that
we are going in the right direction, and it is a boost for everyone
in the factory. “We really needed this type of performance in
Brazil, and [I was] a little bit worried if we had another weekend
where we were struggling, but we’ve always kept being pragmatic and
doing tests and experiments even if they were painful. “Hopefully
now we have a lot of data to analyse.”
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