Contrary to mathematical logic, to get to three first you have to go through 100 and 33. It is the trio of magical figures in Alonso numerology: the third world title –stranded since 2007–, the 33rd victory –denied since 2013– and the hundredth podium for Fernando Alonso, who could well arrive this weekend at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, the second round of the championship.
A conditional probability that takes on more appearances of a feasible achievement after the Spaniard's third place – his 99th podium – in the opening race in Bahrain, which surprised the Aston Martin managers themselves. "A podium was not even in our dreams," admitted Mike Krack, the head of the English team.
But, what did they expect from AMR23 in the hands of the Spanish? In the Silverstone team, the most optimistic race simulations gave Alonso a top 5.
"The big question was what Mercedes would do, whether or not it would be there," Pedro de la Rosa, Aston Martin Ambassador, explained to this newspaper. “The race pace we have is very good, in qualifying we thought we could be in 10th position, but in the race we dropped a little, so Fernando could be in the top five”, predicted the former Barcelona driver.
Now, at the gates of the Saudi Arabian GP, expectations have grown at Aston Martin, which is trying to contain the ambient euphoria and be realistic: the green car is 6 tenths behind Red Bull (in qualifying and in difference per race lap in Bahrain).
Can you think of victory? “You have to have your feet on the ground; there is still a lot of difference with Red Bull, and to reduce it you have to work hard, you have to reckon with track incidents, and there will be races in which we will not be strong enough to finish on the podium", pointed out Mike Krack, head of Aston Martin, prudently. that they will not bring great technical innovations (only the specific adaptations for the Jeddah layout) to the AMR23 up to Imola.
Aston Martin, as Pedro de la Rosa explains, "has the tools to still grow in production: the new wind tunnel [now they rent the one from Mercedes], a new simulator and the new factory, but they are not all available yet." For this reason, when they are in service, "we will be a leading team, but for now we do not have everything to fight with the greats. It is a very interesting project with a very leading Fernando", explains the former Barcelona driver.
Regarding the integration of the Asturian driver, De la Rosa discovers that "he has joined forces with everyone at the factory, he has arrived at Aston Martin and has opened up. He wants to work so that the car has the capacity to win. He is a 'team player' ( a team player), totally convinced that this is his team forever. I see him very excited about the Aston Martin project."
The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix starts on Friday with the first free practice sessions (at 2:30 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. Spanish time). The qualifying session will be on Saturday from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., and the race will be on Sunday at 6:00 p.m.
