With the Wait for His 33rd Win Increasing, Fernando Alonso Concedes Aston Martin’s Limitations Despite Promising Upgrades

6 Podiums in 8 Races! Fernando Alonso could not have even dreamt this when he signed on that dotted line almost a year ago for Aston Martin. But that has been the kind of fairytale so far for the 2-time champion in F1. Although, one possibility of his 33rd win, after a hiatus of 10 years is still a difficult feat to achieve. With Aston introducing a major upgrade in Canada last time around, Fernando’s hopes will increase by getting closer to the top step of the podium. But, he ain’t sure if that can happen in Austria as the Spaniard explained how Aston Martin may be handicapped in Spielberg.

The Austrian GP is one of the most exciting races on the calendar with overtaking & racing galore. Though, with the Austrian weekend being a Sprint race weekend, Aston & Alonso’s plans may be limited a bit. With only 1 practice session, there won’t be much time to test & optimize its new package. Thus, it makes sense why Fernando is not very positive to break his long wait for the 33rd win in the mountains of Spielberg.

According to Autosport, Alonso conceded the limitations Aston will be facing due to the sprint format. He stated, “I think the sprint weekend will not be ideal for us. We still [need] more time maybe of free practice with our new upgraded car. We still need to understand and optimize the package a little bit. In Austria, obviously with the sprint, we will have only FP1 to do that.”

Fernando understands how crucial it is to get a new upgrade package & optimize it for the best performance. While he can eke out every inch of performance from the car, he also needs the performance boost from these upgrades. The Spaniard added, “The circuit will be good and maybe better for the package as well… so maybe Austria we have a little bit more pace.”

Read More: Despite Public Criticism, Super Positive Fernando Alonso Owns up to Aston Martin’s Miscued Call That Allegedly Cost Him Monaco Win

Time will tell if Fernando Alonso can keep his podium streak going in Austria. On the subject of his 33rd win, Alonso already has put a dampener saying that Monaco was probably their best chance. Regardless, if an opportunity arises, the Spanish driver won’t miss out on that to break his win hiatus.

Does Fernando Alonso & Aston Martin Still have a Victory Chance?

The Aston Martin AMR23 has been a high-downforce car ever since the season began. That is why the Silverstone outfit was so confident about taking the win in Monaco, a high-downforce track. But now with that chance gone, does Fernando Alonso still have a shot at breaking Red Bull‘s dominant streak? On paper, yes.

Hungary & Singapore are similar high-downforce circuits to Monaco & could easily favor Aston. With the Hungaroring even producing some chaos like in 2021, one never knows if Fernando Alonso can thrive in it like Esteban Ocon & Sebastian Vettel did 2 years ago. Although, these two are not the only tracks for a victory chance for Alonso if Aston’s upgrades work.

With another set of upgrades coming at Silverstone, things can have a shake-up. Aston Martin has been having a top-speed deficit to Red Bull & the upcoming package resolves that to some extent, Fernando may be in the shout for a victory. After all, the gap to Max Verstappen in Montreal was only about 9.5 seconds in the upgraded AMR23. So, Aston won’t be losing hopes of glory yet.

While it is a conditional hope, Fernando Alonso will take any percent of chance for ending his 10-year-long wait. The Spaniard knows how special it would be whenever he wins this season. Plus, winning with a team that everyone doubted his move to would be such a fitting achievement. What do you think, can Alonso shut the critics once & for all by taking a win this season?

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