Aston Martin ace Fernando Alonso has circled three rounds in 2023 where he believes that the team can win – with one such Grand Prix happening this weekend.
After switching to Aston for 2023, Alonso and the team have proved many doubters wrong so far this season. The Spaniard has taken four podiums from his first five races, with a P4 in Azerbaijan the lowest finish of Alonso’s early campaign.
Meanwhile, Aston Martin as a unit have shown dramatic improvement compared to last year. In 2022, they finished seventh in the constructors’ standings. After five rounds in 2023, the British squad is, staggeringly, second – ahead of both Ferrari and Mercedes.
However, a first-ever win in F1 has been out of Aston’s reach. Fernando Alonso is also searching for a long-awaited win; his last first-place finish in F1 came all the way back in 2013.
But Alonso is not expecting to wait too much longer before visiting the top step of the podium again.
Fernando Alonso predicts that Aston Martin could win at three rounds in 2023
Speaking in a recent interview with Sky Sports, the two-time world champion stated his belief that his team can win races.
When pushed to predict where a victory may occur, Alonso gave a trio of tracks.
“I would say that the slowest speeds of the championship [give the best chance],” said Alonso. “Let’s say Monaco, Budapest, Singapore. These kinds of circuits, I think we put our main hopes on at the moment.
“We seem to have a car that is maybe not the fastest on the straights. We need to improve that, but we are very good in the corners.
“I think at the beginning of the year, a podium was amazing,” he added. “Now after four podiums we obviously want more – at least a second place. But, you know, the two Red Bulls are always unbreakable, they are always super-fast. The Red Bull is stronger, it’s faster and the reliability has always been outstanding for them.
“If one day there is a crack there, if there’s an opportunity, we need to make sure we are in that position and we’re still not making mistakes at any points in the weekend.”
So, Fernando Alonso points out that Monaco, Singapore, and Budapest may be the best chance that he has of taking a win in 2023. But why these circuits?
Could Aston Martin really win at Monaco, Singapore, or Hungary?
All three tracks identified by Fernando Alonso are among the slowest circuits currently on the F1 calendar. Per First Sportz, this trio of tracks has the lowest average speed across a single racing lap in the sport.
Firstly, Monaco sees cars trundle around its streets at just 93mph (150km/h). Marginally ahead of this is Singapore’s Marina Bay Circuit, which boasts a 111mph (179km/h) average speed.
By comparison, the Hungaroring, home of the Hungarian Grand Prix, is the fourth-slowest track on the 2023 calendar. F1 cars average 124mph (200 km/h) around here.
The third-slowest track, per First Sportz, is Mexico’s Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. This is slightly slower than the Hungaroring, at 122mph (197 km/h) on average. Although, due to the enormous start/finish straight, Alonso may not fancy his AMR23’s chances.
So, why these slow tracks? As he mentioned earlier, Fernando Alonso believes Aston Martin’s strength lies in the corners. They have shown the ability to gain time at medium/lower-speed scenarios, as well as under braking and accelerating.
However, Aston does seem behind Red Bull on straight-line speed. This is something that the whole grid is suffering from, though – not just Aston Martin.
Read – Monaco Grand Prix: UK start time, how to watch F1’s iconic race
Therefore, due to the promise displayed in previous rounds in low-speed corners, it makes sense that Aston fancy their chances around the tight and twisty Monaco, Hungary, and Singapore.
For now, though, Fernando Alonso will believe he has a great chance to take his first win in 2023 at Monte Carlo this weekend.
Featured image credit: Getty
