Ifelt that within the possibilities that I had on the table for next year, I felt that this was the right one and the project has some ingredients for the future and ones that are normally synonymous with success in F1 — when you invest and you have the best people. Let’s see if we can short cut that time as much as possible and make Aston Martin first as soon as possible”.
This is the answer Fernando Alonso gave after his move to Aston Martin was announced. Aston Martin to first? Is it practically possible? It was thought to be an impulsive interview to defend his move at that point. But the 2 time World Champion wasn’t just giving reasons. He saw something in that proposal and now it seems to be a great move. Yes, Aston Martin is next only to Red Bull in the Constructors’ Championship!
Many eyebrows were raised when Alonso chose to join a team that was at the wrong end of the table. When the announcement was made on August 1, Alonso’s then team Alpine was in fourth place with 99 points. Aston Martin who replaced Alonso for the outgoing former champion Sebastian Vettel was sitting 9th with just 20 points. That’s definitely a huge step down for a driver of Alonso’s pedigree. Eventhough he was over 40, the announcement shocked most of the people because the Spaniard was in great form. But it wasn’t a surprise anymore after the Bahrain practice session. Alonso & Aston Martin silenced everyone who doubted them!
The Aston Martin was flying as the experts were predicting them to finish inside the top 4. They carried that same momentum into the season’s first race. Alonso qualified fifth ahead of both the Mercedes and Lance Stroll at eighth immediately after George Russell & Lewis Hamilton. The race day was a little tricky though. Stroll who wasn’t sure to participate because of the injuries he sustained ahead of the season, hits Alonso on the back of his car. Both of them lost places and had to fight hard. But their extraordinary pace helped the team mates to gain those places.
Alonso overtook Russell on lap 13, Hamilton on lap 38 and Carlos Sainz on lap 45. As Charles Leclerc retired from the race on lap 40, that overtake on Sainz put him in third. Stroll, who was racing with a broken wrist and toe, undercut Russell to go sixth. Thus, Aston Martin finished the race with 23 points.
Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was no different as Aston Martin maintained their good momentum in the streets of Jeddah as well. Alonso qualified third, but Leclerc’s 10 place grid penalty moved the Spaniard one place ahead. Stroll too had a better qualification as he came out P5.
The race started so well for Alonso as he overtook the pole sitter Sergio Perez at the start. But he was given a 5 second penalty for not properly lining up his car on the starting grid. He lost the lead to Perez at lap 3 as well. But he kept his cool and drove an incredible race. The overpowering Max Verstappen who started at 15th joined Perez at the top which left Alonso at third, but the Aston Martin driver maintained that place very well. At the end of the race, it was expected that Alonso could get another 5 second penalty for not serving the previous penalty properly. So he was asked to maintain a gap of more than 5 seconds to the fourth placed Russell. On the other hand, the Mercedes driver was trying to bring the gap under 5 seconds. After some crazy final laps, Alonso finished 5.138 seconds ahead of Russell. But, it wasn’t enough as FIA handed him a 10 second penalty and because of that Alonso dropped to fourth.
But Aston Martin didn’t accept that and requested another review. After FIA reversed the penalty and the two time World Champion recorded his 100th Formula 1 podium! Besides these dramas, Aston Martin lost Stroll in the middle of the race because of some technical issues.
After 2 brilliant races, Aston Martin is now second with 38 points. Mercedes too has 38 points, but Aston Martin will be confident because they can clearly go ahead of Toto Wolff’s team if both their drivers finish the race. What Alonso was promising last season, what Aston Martin was expecting to do, they have achieved it!
PS: There is no one catching the raging Red Bulls as they finished 1-2 in both the races and they are clearly winning both the championships.