Fernando Alonso admits that Aston Martin wasn’t anticipating that it would find itself on the podium throughout the entire 2023 campaign.
The Spaniard’s comment comes after he took third place at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, crossing the line behind the Red Bull duo of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.
Alonso started the race in Bahrain from fifth on the grid but was shuffled back to seventh on the opening lap after being tapped by team-mate Lance Stroll.
“I thought it was George. I saw the replay on TV later, and I saw it was Lance,” Alonso said, reflecting on the incident. “He had a very good start, you know, because he was alongside me into Turn 4.
“We got lucky, two cars didn’t have any problems, and managed to continue.
“It was our lucky day for many things, we do contact, and also to be both cars with strong points. I’m very happy with the team, because they deserve it.”
Alonso recovered to overtake both Mercedes drivers, as well as compatriot Carlos Sainz, to take third after Charles Leclerc retired with a mechanical problem
“Obviously a perfect start to this project. We didn’t expect to be that competitive,” Alonso admitted.
“The aim in 2023 was getting the mix in the midfield, leading that midfield and getting close to the top three teams. But even a podium was maybe not on the radar in 2023.
“And we found ourselves second-best car today in Bahrain or the whole weekend, just behind Red Bull. So this is a little bit of a surprise.
“We are extremely proud, happy with the job done at Silverstone in the factory, so big congratulations to everyone, let’s enjoy this moment, and build from here hopefully a good 2023 campaign and get closer and closer to the top guys.”
Alonso admitted after qualifying on Saturday that Aston Martin’s situation felt “unreal”, as it has made a large step compared to 2022.
Despite its strong start, the two-time World Champion says he is curious to get to the upcoming rounds in Jeddah and Melbourne to discover if its performance holds up.
“I think I have the same feeling from yesterday, it’s too good to be true,” he said. “You’re always expecting something you know, will get a step back and get back to reality.
“But it seems real, the performance. Let’s see in Jeddah, I’m curious to go to Jeddah and Australia, they’re different circuits. I think Max touched on before, high speed corners, very little degradation.
“I think in Bahrain we were strong on things we may not find in Jeddah and Australia. So if we are strong in the next two races, I think we will have a very good 2023.”
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