No One Was 'Close Enough To Put Pressure On Red Bull' According To De La Rosa

Thursday, 28 December 2023 at 11:00

Updated at Thursday, 28 December 2023 at 21:14

Aston Martin's ambassador and Former F1 driver Pedro de la Rosa recently explained why no one could compete with Red Bull during the 2023 season.

Aston Martin F1 team seemed as the second strongest in the first half of the 2023 season after the team made incredible progress in development throughout the winter break.

Even though Fernando Alonso competed for the podium regularly, Pedro de la Rosa shared the team had no illusions in terms of their chances of beating Red Bull. He told RacingNews365:

"I think we knew how difficult it would be to beat Red Bull. Everything had to fall our way, and they had to make some mistakes. In hindsight, I don't think anyone was close enough to really put pressure on Red Bull and make mistakes."

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Aston Martin came closest to victory at Circuit de Monaco, which was supposed to suit them better than Red Bull, but the team from Milton Keynes still had the upper hand in terms of race pace, and Max Verstappen won the race.

"And that's why they didn't make any mistakes, that's the reality. But I think we came very close in Monaco, the closest we've ever come. However, Red Bull always had an advantage.

The RB19 was clearly the dominant car throughout the 2023 season as Verstappen with Sergio Perez managed to win 21 out of 22 races together almost completing a clean sweep.

"Their advantage you saw in qualifying, and if it wasn't in qualifying, they did have the advantage in terms of tire wear in the race."

Ferrari managed to match and even beat Red Bull in qualifying sessions towards the end of the season, but the Scuderia drivers couldn't keep pace with Red Bulls during the race. De la Rosa added:

"So they simply had no weaknesses and were incredibly good in terms of race speed. That was ultimately the key to success because if they were beaten at one point in qualifying, it was already clear that the other teams didn't have enough speed in the race."