What a sublime start Fernando Alonso had to the 2023 season. He made the best use of his Aston Martin car to get podium after podium. Out of 10 races so far, he has stood on the podium 6 times. But the last one was 3 races ago, in Canada. It does feel a bit odd that the Spaniard hasn’t been on the podium in Austria and Britain. The surprising thing is that he wasn’t even in contention at the British GP. Nonetheless, his spirits are high. And as a result, he has made supremely confident claims about how well he’ll end the season.

Aston Martin and Alonso, in particular, made a lot of headlines on each race weekend. But there wasn’t a lot to talk about with the team at the British GP. That was because he started the race in P9. And the drivers or teams that are spoken about are usually the top 4 or 5 and if there is some good overtaking in the midfield or behind. The Spaniard fell in neither category at Silverstone. Though the AMR23 wasn’t suited for Silverstone, he gained 2 positions, to finish P7.

After the race, Alonso had only encouraging words for the team on the radio. He said, “Don’t worry, guys. Now there are better weekends ahead for us. Seventh. Probably better than the speed we had today, well done. Thank you guys.” The confidence only rose from there until the post-race interviews.

After the race, he even commented on how Aston Martin will finish the season better than their rivals. Alonso said, as quoted by Marca, “I’m not worried about the development of the car… With Mercedes and Ferrari we will fight until the end. Austria was one of our worst results and we got points. In Abu Dhabi, we’ll see.”

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The 2023 season isn’t even halfway through. But the visionary that Alonso is, knows how strongly the Silverstone-based team will finish. But he does expect some niggles in the 2024 season, owing to a hectic calendar.

Fernando Alonso Comments On the Wellbeing of Crew Members

On the 5th of July, Formula 1 announced the release of the 2024 calendar to the public. Like 2023, the next year too will have 24 races, with some reshuffling of races. For fans, there will be more on-track action to watch. But what about the drivers and the team crews? Will they be able to perform at their best each and every time? Fernando Alonso doesn’t think so.

Alonso said, as quoted by PlanetSport, “I understand all the benefits of having 24 races and the reasons behind scheduling so many races. There is a lot of interest in Formula 1, and there is demand. So, it is good to visit new countries and races. But I believe that 18 races are a good number for team members. With more than 18 or 19 races, the stress on everyone intensifies.”

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What happens if the number of races increases will only come to light truly once the season progresses? But Alonso can do nothing about what the external uncontrollable circumstances are. He has to keep his head down so that his claims of Aston Martin outclassing rivals come true.