Alonso gives BOLD verdict over F1's 'Champions League' teams
Alonso gives BOLD verdict over F1's 'Champions League' teams
Fernando Alonso has insisted Aston Martin are playing in the 'Champions League' of Formula 1 this year, despite their recent drop-off in performance.
Alonso, who joined the team at the start of the year on a multi-year contract, benefitted from a superb start to the season.
The F1 veteran secured a podium place in five of the first six races of the campaign, propelling himself behind Max Verstappen. However, in recent weeks, Alonso and team-mate Lance Stroll have been hampered by a drop-off in pace.
READ MORE: F1 team issue UPDATE over brand new £200 million factory
There has been just one further top-three finish for Alonso since, forcing him to lower his expectations despite initially dreaming of surprise race wins.
Alonso, though, has pointed to the unpredictable nature of the sport's development scrap and is confident Aston Martin remain firmly competitive.
Aston Martin's biggest challenge
Speaking to the media, including GPFans, ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix, he said: "I think this is Formula 1 and these things are changing so quickly. So I think it was a surprise for us.
"The car was fast but I think the team was outstanding over the winter, understanding what the problems were last year. I think reliability, everything, the strategy, we did things really well in most of the races to get those results.
"It's not only the pace of the car; you need to master everything in the weekend from free practice one until Sunday.
"And then, yeah, I think we are like playing in the Champions League at the moment and we are finding ourselves with the very top teams, trying to over-develop off-track and this is going to be the biggest challenge for Aston Martin now."
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F1 Standings
Drivers
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Nyck De Vries
- Liam Lawson
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2023
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2023
- Grand Prix of Australia 2023
- Grand Prix of China 2023
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2023
- Miami Grand Prix 2023
- Qatar Airways Gran Premio Del Made In Italy E Dell'emilia Romagna 2023
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2023
- AWS Gran Premio de España 2023
- Grand Prix du Canada 2023
- Grand Prix of Austria 2023
- Aramco Grand Prix of Great Britain 2023
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2023
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2023
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2023
- Grand Prix of Italy 2023
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2023
- Grand Prix of Japan 2023
- Qatar Grand Prix 2023
- Grand Prix of the United States 2023
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2023
- Rolex Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2023
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2023
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2023
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