Alonso Doesn't 'Expect Any Miracle' In Jeddah

Thursday, 07 March 2024 at 10:30

Aston Martin's driver Fernando Alonso said he didn't expect any miracles during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after lacking pace on the top four teams during the season's first race.

Aston Martin wasn't expected to be one of the best teams in Bahrain, but Alonso's qualifying performance gave some hope to the British team's fans.

However, after a few laps of the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix, it became clear that Aston couldn't match the pace of the top teams- McLaren, Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull.

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The Spanish Matador fell from his initial starting position of P6 into P9 during the 57 laps around the Bahrain International Circuit. Going into the second race of the season, he told the media:

"The cars are identical to Bahrain. I know that there is the need to talk about the performance and the need to talk about something that can change the domination from Red Bull."

While many hope other teams could do something about Red Bull's dominance as soon as in Jeddah, the 42-year-old sees no difference compared to the first race.

"But this is F1, this is not a simple sport. This is much more complicated. I don't see any difference from Bahrain to here."

In 2023, Alonso took the podium in Jeddah after a very decent race. However, Aston Martin had probably the second-fastest car at this point in the season, and circumstances are different this year.

Alonso crossed the finish line in Bahrain 18.805 seconds behind the last McLaren, 24.563 seconds behind the last Mercedes, 35.218 behind the last Ferrari, and 52.43 seconds behind the last Red Bull.

The gap to the teams in front was clearly significant, and the double World Champion doesn't expect things to change suddenly just a week after that race. He added:

"Hopefully, we see a better result from Aston Martin. We were very fast last year. So, hopefully, set-up-wise, our adaptation to the track can be better than Bahrain. But we should be the fifth-fastest team. I don't expect any miracle."