Motorsport Week
  • Formula 1
    • 2025 Formula 1 Calendar
    • 2025 Formula 1 Standings
  • Formula E
    • 2025 Formula E Calendar
    • 2025 Formula E Standings
  • IndyCar
    • 2025 IndyCar Calendar
    • 2025 IndyCar Standings
  • WRC
    • 2025 WRC Standings
    • 2025 WRC Calendar
  • MotoGP
    • 2025 MotoGP Calendar
    • 2025 MotoGP Standings
    • Moto2
    • Moto3
  • WEC
    • 2025 WEC Calendar
  • IMSA
    • 2025 IMSA Calendar
  • World SBK
  • More
    • Formula 2
    • Formula 3
    • F1 Academy
    • Moto2
    • Moto3
    • World Superbikes
    • Technical Insight
    • Galleries
    • About/Contact
    • Privacy Policy
No Result
View All Result
  • Formula 1
    • 2025 Formula 1 Calendar
    • 2025 Formula 1 Standings
  • Formula E
    • 2025 Formula E Calendar
    • 2025 Formula E Standings
  • IndyCar
    • 2025 IndyCar Calendar
    • 2025 IndyCar Standings
  • WRC
    • 2025 WRC Standings
    • 2025 WRC Calendar
  • MotoGP
    • 2025 MotoGP Calendar
    • 2025 MotoGP Standings
    • Moto2
    • Moto3
  • WEC
    • 2025 WEC Calendar
  • IMSA
    • 2025 IMSA Calendar
  • World SBK
  • More
    • Formula 2
    • Formula 3
    • F1 Academy
    • Moto2
    • Moto3
    • World Superbikes
    • Technical Insight
    • Galleries
    • About/Contact
    • Privacy Policy
No Result
View All Result
Motorsport Week
Home Single Seater Formula 1

Alonso ranks Japanese GP weekend ‘top five’ in his F1 career

by Taylor Powling
1 year ago
A A
Alonso ranks Japanese GP weekend ‘top five’ in his F1 career

Fernando Alonso (ESP) Aston Martin F1 Team AMR24. 07.04.2024. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 4, Japanese Grand Prix, Suzuka, Japan, Race Day.

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso has labelled his complete performance throughout the Japanese Grand Prix as a “top five” weekend in his extensive Formula 1 career.

Alonso matched his season-best starting spot when he qualified in fifth position but remained cautious due to concerns over Aston Martin’s race pace with the AMR24.

However, the Spaniard dropped one position to Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who executed a one-stop race to rise from eighth to fourth, to take the chequered flag in sixth.

Alonso diverged from the rest of the top 10 with the choice to start on the Soft compound, which he admitted was enforced with his allocation for the Suzuka weekend.

RelatedPosts

Spot the lucky mascot on Carlos Sainz's helmet

The mascot that spurred Carlos Sainz and Williams to best F1 result of 2025

3 hours ago
Mercedes casts positive take on Kimi Antonelli after ‘important’ F1 result

Mercedes casts positive take on Kimi Antonelli after ‘important’ F1 result

4 hours ago

“We didn’t have any other tyre available, so we chose our race since Thursday,” Alonso revealed.

“We were thinking that that was the best strategy, to have Soft-Medium-Hard into the race, is what we executed.

“I didn’t feel any big penalty on the first stint on the Soft, it was more or less ok, so yeah, I think it was not too bad.”

Alonso came under increased pressure from Oscar Piastri McLaren in the closing stages, with George Russell’s Medium-shod Mercedes approaching at a rapid rate.

Russell, who crashed chasing Alonso in Australia, touted that his failure to pass Piastri until the final lap came down to the Aston Martin driver providing him with DRS.

Asked how confident he was about retaining sixth place, Alonso said: “Obviously not fully confident, because you never know what the pace of the others will do at the end of the race.

“But yeah, I think it was my best weekend, I don’t know, the top 5, inside the top 5 ever for me.

“I think P5 yesterday in qualifying that lap, and P6 today in the race is completely out of position, so yeah, very proud.”

Fernando Alonso (ESP) Aston Martin F1 Team on the grid. 07.04.2024. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 4, Japanese Grand Prix, Suzuka, Japan, Race Day.

Expanding upon the claim that it was one of his greatest F1 weekends, Alonso highlighted that he managed to beat both Mercedes’ and a McLaren with a slower car.

While Alonso brought the Silverstone-based squad to within one point of Mercedes in the Constructors’ Championship, team-mate Lance Stroll struggled to 12th place.

“Well I think we are the 5th fastest team by a good margin to the 4th and a good margin to the 6th, we are quite established there,” the two-time champion expanded.

“I think there is no way to compare us with Ferrari, McLaren, Red Bull and Mercedes, so that’s why to finish P5 and P6 is completely unusual.

“We did it in Australia as well, we finished P6, here P6 again, P5 I think in Jeddah, so we are executing very well the races.

“And the others they are experimenting a little bit with the strategy and other things, and we are capitalising on those, but we need to improve the pace for sure.”

Tags: AstonMartinF1Fernando AlonsoJapaneseGP
Share204Tweet128Share

Related Posts

Spot the lucky mascot on Carlos Sainz's helmet
Formula 1

The mascot that spurred Carlos Sainz and Williams to best F1 result of 2025

3 hours ago
Mercedes casts positive take on Kimi Antonelli after ‘important’ F1 result
Formula 1

Mercedes casts positive take on Kimi Antonelli after ‘important’ F1 result

4 hours ago
Max Verstappen's second straight win puts McLaren on some notice
Feature

Is McLaren feeling the heat as Max Verstappen refinds his F1 winning streak?

5 hours ago
Load More

Discussion about this post

Upcoming Races

#EventDate
18Singapore GP03-05 October
19United States GP17-19 October
20Mexico City GP24-26 October
21São Paulo GP07-09 November
22Las Vegas GP20-22 November

Click here for the full 2025 F1 calendar

Drivers’  Standings

#DriverPts
Oscar Piastri324
Lando Norris299
Max Verstappen255
George Russell212
Charles Leclerc165
Lewis Hamilton121
Andrea Kimi Antonelli78
Alexander Albon70
Isack Hadjar39
Nico Hulkenberg37

Click here for full Drivers’ Standings

Latest Articles

Spot the lucky mascot on Carlos Sainz's helmet
Formula 1

The mascot that spurred Carlos Sainz and Williams to best F1 result of 2025

September 23, 2025
Mercedes casts positive take on Kimi Antonelli after ‘important’ F1 result
Formula 1

Mercedes casts positive take on Kimi Antonelli after ‘important’ F1 result

September 23, 2025
Max Verstappen's second straight win puts McLaren on some notice
Feature

Is McLaren feeling the heat as Max Verstappen refinds his F1 winning streak?

September 23, 2025

Follow Motorsport Week

Join our daily motorsport newsletter

* indicates required

Motorsport Week

© 2024 Motorsport Media Services Ltd

Other Links

  • About & Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Motorsport Monday

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • Sign Up
  • Home
  • Formula 1
    • Latest News
    • 2025 F1 Calendar
    • 2025 F1 Championship Standings
  • Formula E
    • Latest News
    • 2025 FE Calendar
    • 2025 FE Championship Standings
  • MotoGP
    • Latest News
    • 2025 MotoGP Calendar
    • 2025 MotoGP Standings
    • Moto2
    • Moto3
    • World Superbikes
  • WRC
    • Latest News
    • 2025 WRC Calendar
    • 2025 WRC Standings
  • IndyCar
    • Latest News
    • 2025 IndyCar Calendar
    • 2025 IndyCar Standings
  • WEC
    • Latest News
    • 2025 WEC Calendar
  • Live Updates
  • Other
    • IMSA
    • Formula 2
    • Formula 3
    • F1 Academy
    • Moto2
    • Moto3
    • World Superbikes
  • Galleries
  • About/Contact
  • Privacy Policy

© 2024 Motorsport Media Services Ltd