Fernando Alonso revealed why it is “concerning” that Aston Martin was able to produce such a competitive performance at Formula 1‘s Hungarian Grand Prix.
The Silverstone-based squad sprang a surprise at the Hungaroring, with Alonso taking fifth place, followed closely by team-mate Lance Stroll, finishing seventh.
The AMR25’s performance was a total contrast to that of its previous outing at Spa, where both cars were down and out for the whole weekend.
Alonso explained that he, at one point, believed a podium was on the cards, but whilst it failed to transpire, still appeared delighted by the result.
“I think it couldn’t have gone any better than this, obviously,” he told media including Motorsport Week.
“Someone told me that the two McLarens were very close to each other at one point. That would have been even better, but it didn’t happen.
“But yeah, apart from that, I think we maximised the performance of the car yesterday in quali and today in the race.
“Not much more to do on our side. The biggest threat was the two stops, but then he had some traffic, and at the end we were a little bit more relaxed.”
The Spaniard also revealed that he did not spend too much time battling Mercedes’ George Russell before pitting during the race, opting to think of the long run.
“Yeah, before my pitstop I didn’t want to lose much time,” he explained. “I wanted him to overtake me on the main straight, not into Turn 2, because then we both lose a lot of time.
“So I said I will defend this straight and maybe in the next lap I let him go.”
Alonso speculates Aston Martin improvement
Alonso was shocked by how competitive the AMR25 was around the Hungaroring, saying after qualifying that “the layout, the characteristics of the circuit, is suiting our car, apparently.”
The team brought what was described as “more aggressive” design of its front wing flap, an addition to its front nose upgrade for Spa, which seemed to make no positive impact.
The 44-year-old repeated this astonishment, conveying his obvious happiness with the result, but also stated his concern as to why.
“It is a surprise, definitely,” he expressed. “It’s a nice surprise. The good thing is that we were competitive and we were fast.
“The concerning thing is that we don’t know why. In a way, we need this week at the factory to analyse exactly what are the differences between Spa and Hungary, what are the differences on the car as well, on the setup, on the aero devices that we were racing with.
“The main thing for us was the front wing that was new this weekend.
“If that front wing gives us that much of performance, that’s very good news, but I think that has to be understood at the moment.”
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