Despite Charles Leclerc’s Threat, Fernando Alonso Tipped to Be Favourite to End 10 Years Drought

Remember how Fernando Alonso fended off Lewis Hamilton at Hungaroring? That was to make sure that Esteban Ocon won the race. Now imagine, if the 41-year-old can do that much for his teammate, what will he do to end his own 10-year drought? Fernando Alonso has anchored himself as the best of the rest. The Asturian is the favorite to pip Charles Leclerc despite the raw Ferrari pace. But what drought are we talking about?

Fernando Alonso finished 20+ second ahead of Carlos Sainz and very nearly overtook Charles Leclerc for what would have been a fourth consecutive podium for Fernando Alonso. Nevertheless, despite the troublesome weekend and a track not suited to the AMR23, Fernando Alonso’s efforts were commendable. The 41-year-old is showing no sign of aging. He seems to be getting younger day by day, pulling overtakes anywhere and everywhere on the track. 

If Alonso and Aston Martin can keep pace with the development of teams around them, the Spaniard might just end his 10-year-long famine of finishing in the Top 3 of the driver’s championship. The host of the F1: Chequered Flag podcast suggests Alonso is consolidating 3rd in the championship with the performances. While Leclerc and Sainz can make a comeback, beating an inform-fired-up Fernando Alonso is next to impossible.

According to the F1: Chequered Flag podcast, the host said, “What he’s doing right now is that he’s consolidating 3rd in the driver’s world championship. That’s as much as he could do today. And that means beating. If he could claim third in the driver’s championship this year, that’s as good as a world championship win, to be honest with regards to the car he’s got.”

Talking about the Ferrari’s beating him to 3rd, he said, “I’m sure Leclerc or Sainz can come back at him, but right now he’s driving superbly well. Seven seasons for Alonso without finishing in the top 3 of the championship. The last time was 2nd in 2013 for Ferrari.”

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Fernando Alonso, taking his Aston Martin to the finish 3rd in the Driver standing, would feel like the championship itself to Alonso. After many years of bad decisions, moving to the Green team finally paid off. The Spaniard is hopeful about the chances of Aston Martin performing better at Miami.

Miami GP to suit Fernando Alonso and Co. more than the Ferrari

The 41-year-old explained how the Ferrari was lucky that Hard tires at Baku did not have any degradation. However, the track layout of Miami with a lot of medium-speed corners will surely suit the Aston Martin more. Also, the higher temperature means the Ferrari may struggle with its tires. With the AMR23 being the kindest car on tires, Alonso’s hopes are high for Miami.

According to Formula1.com, Alonso said, “I think Miami is going to be a different thing again. It’s going to be track-related now. I think the performance – Mercedes, Ferrari, and Aston Martin – are so close together that every weekend is going to be different, making one of the teams a little bit ahead depending [on] the characteristics. I don’t know yet if Miami will be good for us or not. If it’s hot as it should be and there’s a lot of degradation that’s normally good news for us.”

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Do you think Fernando Alonso will make it to the Top 3 in the driver’s standings?