Fernando Alonso claims Sunday’s Saudi F1 GP ‘defined by details’
Fernando Alonso insists start, strategy and tire management will play a key role in achieving a good result at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. After the qualifying session, the Spanish champion was confident in his car’s race pace and hoped to maximize his results.
Asked by Sportchida if he had enough pace to close the gap to Red Bull in the race and at the same time pass the cars behind him, Alonso said:
“Yeah, I think it’s going to be a very tight race. And it’s defined by the details. One is the start, the other is tire management. The other is strategy. And maybe luck in the end. Because even in the Czech Republic last year we saw how luck and the safety car are a big factor here.
“So we have to make sure we hit all these points. As a team, I think we are ready to handle everything we have in our hands. The car has performed well in the long runs. “The tires look good, as we saw last year with the old Aston Martin, and they look good in Bahrain. I hope you will be blessed as well.”
Starting from the front row at the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix will be key for Fernando Alonso in terms of starting and tire management. The Spanish driver believes strategy and luck will also play a role. This was seen at the Jeddah race last year. Sergio Perez I got pole position, but I got stuck in the safety car and lost the position in the race.
When Sportskeeda recalled their long-running pace and the other teams behind them not far from Red Bull, the Spaniard oozed confidence that they had the pace to close the gap to the top. I let
Nonetheless, the 41-year-old is hoping for a close race with both the cars in front and behind him and hopes luck will work in his favor.
Fernando Alonso says a top-five finish with both cars is a realistic target for Jeddah.
Fernando Alonso believes it will be difficult to beat Perez in the race without a perfect start. The Spanish driver has been cautiously optimistic about his expectations from the race when it comes to beating Red Bull on sheer pace.
However, the double champion feels the sport can be unpredictable. Max VerstappenQualifying result was 15th after he broke the car’s drive shaft.
The former Renault champion felt that a realistic goal for Aston Martin in 2023 was to finish consistently in the top five to do well in the Constructors’ Championship.
Asked what he could do to fight Perez in races other than the start, Fernando Alonso said:
“I don’t think so. We have to be honest and realize that Red Bull is a bit ahead of everyone, so tomorrow the goal is not to fight for victory against the Czech Republic, but as I said before So, Formula 1 isn’t exact math, anything can happen, nobody’s throwing in a Verstappen P15 today, but these things happen sometimes.
“So the most important thing for us is to score points. We start both cars in the top five. We finish both cars in the top five and points for the Constructors’ Championship. We’re trying to keep accumulating, and that’s our main goal, this year’s Aston Martin.”
Given the long free practice, Red Bull is not leading by a mile and there are concerns about reliability. Aston Martin, on the other hand, faces stiff competition. FerrariMercedes, and alpinewithin a tenth of a second of each other.
Despite qualifying third behind Charles Leclerc, a Ferrari driver penalty promoted Fernando Alonso to the front row in second place. Jeddah Given his circuit’s history of unpredictable and incident-filled racing, taking the lead from Perez and running a clean race will be key to achieving a good result or victory.