Alonso Warns As Aston Martin Enters 'Tricky' Period

Tuesday, 26 December 2023 at 22:00

The two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso braced his team for a challenging period ahead as the competition keeps increasing.

Aston Martin made good enough progress throughout the last winter break to find themselves competing for podiums pretty regularly in the first part of the 2023 season.

Former F1 driver Jolyo. Palmer called the British team with Fernando Alonso the biggest surprise of the 2023 season. While the team is in a good place at the end of the 2023 season, Alonso believes a difficult period awaits his team.

As reported by motorsport.com, he said: "The starting point is a little bit better than what I thought. But now the real difficulty starts."

The Spanish matador pointed to the AlphTauri team, which made noteworthy progress throughout 2023, jumping from the last place on the grid to eight.

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Moreover, AlphaTauri matched Williams and even Alpine in sixth place performance-wise towards the end of the season. Alonso believes getting into the top 10 in the Drivers' Championship is easy, but to move further is substantially harder.

"We see AlphaTauri, how much they've improved during this season. So, let's say that that first step, to become a top 10 contender, is the easiest part."

Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack said his team found out during the 2023 season the development race at the front of the grid is "much harsher."

Alonso has been in multiple top teams throughout his 20-year-long F1 career, and he says the next two years will be key in determining whether Aston Martin can compete for the Championship.

"Now comes the tricky period for Aston Martin. I think the next two or three years – to find that extra bit, to create something that no one has in that moment, to be creative, to be innovative, I think that's maybe the biggest question mark that we need to face, and I think no one has the answer."