Despite Committing Huge Mistake in the Past, Fernando Alonso Hailed to Achieve the Much Awaited Feat in Monaco

It’s been more than a decade since Fernando Alonso won a race in F1. The partnership with Aston Martin is turning out to be a delightful one for the Spaniard. Until now, he has taken 4 podium finishes from 5 races but none of those were victories. However, experts believe that the next race in Monaco could break the deadlock for the Asturian driver. But how clean has his record been on the street circuit of Monaco?

Red Bull, without a shadow of doubt, has the fastest car on the grid. However, Monaco is not the kind of circuit where only the fastest cars necessarily take the win. The circuit does not have long straight like most other venues on the calendar and that does not play into Red Bull’s hands. Aston Martin, on the other hand, is known to have nailed the aerodynamics and downforce on such circuits. Therefore, this is the best chance for them to extract a surprise race win.

Despite a dodgy track record, Fernando Alonso tipped to triumph in Monaco

Alonso has won the Monaco GP twice in his two-decades-long F1 career. However, he’s also had his fair share of crashes and bad luck. Keeping mechanical failure-induced retirements aside, the Spaniard has crashed twice on this track. The first time happened during the 2008 edition of the race when he hit the wall and punctured his rear-right tire. The second one happened last year during the Q3 session on Saturday. After Sergio Perez crashed into the barriers and Carlos Sainz into him, the marshals waved the red flags. However, Alonso too went into the barriers, albeit on a different part of the track. Despite that, F1 journalist Tom Clarkson believes he is the man to beat on the circuit.

On a recent episode of the F1 Nation podcast, Clarkson said, “If he’s got a car that is as competitive as a Red Bull and a Ferrari, throw in those conditions, throw in the fact that he’s been there for 20 years. He’s won twice before in 2006, 2007. It is all slightly pointing in the direction of Fernando Alonso and the win number 33 for him.”

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Aston Martin is not the only team Clarkson believes will be faster than Red Bull in Monaco. There is another challenger he believes will prove itself worthy enough on the track against the might of the reigning champions.

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Given how devastatingly fast Red Bull is this season, it is no surprise that their drivers have shared the top step of the podium among themselves on every occasion. The car is quickest in straight lines and does really well in the fast corners. But slow corners? Not so much. At least not as good as Ferrari and Aston Martin.

Clarkson continued, “[…] when you look at the GPS, and you look at the speed of the cars through slow corners, the Ferrari is faster than the Red Bull through the slow corners this year. And the Aston Martin is equal to it. So, when you look at Charles Leclerc’s record on street tracks, 2 pole positions in Baku with a car that is brilliant through slow corners, I think Charles is my money for pole position this time around.”

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Will it be Leclerc or will it be Alonso who will take the win this time around in Monaco? Or does the Austrian team have a trick up its sleeve to come out triumphant once again and keep its clean sweep going?