Alonso's Outstanding Season Shows 'Energy Of 22-Year-Old' Says Chandhok

Wednesday, 03 January 2024 at 12:00

Updated at Wednesday, 03 January 2024 at 14:18

Former F1 driver and current pundit for Sky Sports, Karun Chandhok, suggested Fernando Alonso showed the energy of a 22-year-old during the 2023 season.

Fernando Alonso found himself in a good situation after pre-season tests in Bahrain in 2023. His Aston Martin was competitive, and the Spaniard made the most of his car throughout the year.

Alonso amassed eight podiums for his team and finished fourth in the championship, even though Aston Martin was the fifth-slowest team in the second part of the season. Karun Chandhok said on Sky F1's podcast:

"When I try and rank these drivers, it is all about maximizing their package. For me, I think that’s where Fernando scores. He absolutely maximizes the potential of that car. They started the season very strongly."

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Aston Martin ended the 2022 season in seventh place and started the 2023 season as arguably the second-fastest team on the grid.

"On average, in the first part of the year until Spain, the Aston was about .5 of a percent away from the Red Bull and that’s a huge gain."

At one point of the 2023 season, around the Spanish Grand Prix, Aston Martin fell back in terms of performance compared to other teams. Yet, Alonso still collected three more podiums.

"But Fernando was the one who was maximising that potential. They lost performance relative to the opposition from Spain onwards."

The icing on the cake for the double World Champion's season was the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, during which he beat Sergio Perez on the dominant Red Bull by 0.053 seconds to get his eighth podium. Chandhok added:

"The result in Brazil, that battle with Checo, he outfoxed Checo. I think those drives just show he’s still got the energy of a 22-year-old not a 42-year-old. For me. It was an outstanding season"