Alonso Admits Fifth Place In Constructors' Championship 'Hurts A Little' After 'Unreal' 2023 Season

Tuesday, 28 November 2023 at 08:00

Updated at Tuesday, 28 November 2023 at 09:12

Fernando Alonso reacted to losing fourth place in the Constructors' Championship battle with the McLaren team after the 2023 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Going into the last race of the 2023 season at Yas Marina Circuit, Aston Martin F1 drivers had a clear goal - to outperform McLaren drivers by 12 points.

However, McLaren was too fast for Aston Martin in Abu Dhabi, and both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll finished behind Lando Norris with Oscar Piastri.

Aston Martin seemed like the only team that could challenge Red Bull at the beginning of the season, so Alonso admitted it was quite disappointing to finish in P5.

"Fifth in the Constructors' hurts a little bit because I think we were better than that, and we were hoping to be better than that at the beginning of the year. In the Drivers', finishing fourth is a little bit unreal, fighting with the guys that we were."

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While Alonso lost fourth place in the Constructors' Championship, he snatched fourth place in the Drivers' Championship, to which he apparently gives bigger weight than Norris. Alonso elaborated:

"In fact, if you are fifth in the Constructors', normally you should be ninth and 10th in the Drivers', so it is a dream season for everyone in Aston Martin, including myself. It is completely unexpected, completely unreal to be fourth in the championship."

The two-time World Champion might not have expected to ever step on the podium again ahead of the 2023 season and he managed to do it eight more times throughout this year. The Spanish Matador added:

"As I said [earlier in the weekend], 2012 and this season for me are the best in my career and I was in a position that I could never have imagined at the beginning of the year or with the car performance we had."