Fernando Alonso expects to suffer in Madrid. With the speed deficit of his Aston Martin, overtaking could become an “almost impossible” mission.
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Fernando Alonso does not hide his concerns after a difficult first day on the new Madring. Only 17th in FP2, the two-time world champion believes that the characteristics of his Aston Martin could make overtaking almost impossible on Sunday, putting considerable pressure on qualifying.
The Spaniard’s day was notably disrupted by a clutch problem that appeared after his start practice at the end of FP1. Alonso thus lost valuable time at the beginning of the second session, which put him out of sync with the program initially planned by Aston Martin. With only 16 laps completed, compared to more than twenty for many rivals, he never really managed to find the rhythm.
Overtaking will be “almost impossible” for Alonso
The Madring has 22 corners and several sections where cars run very close to the walls. Alonso already believes that overtaking will not be easy for the entire field, but the situation could be even more complicated for Aston Martin due to its lack of straight-line speed.
“It will be difficult to overtake. For us, with the deficit we have on the straights, it will be almost impossible. Qualifying will therefore be very important.”
Under these conditions, a poor grid position could seriously compromise Alonso’s chances on Sunday. The Spanish driver, however, refuses to consider the qualifying result as final, because the urban nature of the Madring could cause twists and turns.
“With the walls so close, there is always a possibility of a safety car or red flags. We must stay focused, see the checkered flag and do our own race.”
Alonso thus believes that a perfect execution could allow Aston Martin to take advantage of the opportunities that arise.
“Whatever our qualifying result, I think there will still be hope for Sunday if we execute our race perfectly.”
A clutch problem costs Aston Martin dearly
Before thinking about the race, Alonso will nevertheless have to regain rhythm on Saturday. His clutch problem prevented him from following the planned program during FP2 and notably put him in a delicate situation regarding traffic.
This difficulty was all the more penalizing because every lap counts on a completely new circuit. Alonso nevertheless acknowledges that Aston Martin bears some responsibility for this complicated session and expects a more favorable situation in qualifying.
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“It was complicated with the traffic, but it was our mistake to be out of sync with the others. Tomorrow, in qualifying, it should be better.”
The Madring ultimately caused fewer incidents than some drivers had anticipated on Friday. Only one red flag interrupted the two sessions, after Arvid Lindblad went off track at turn 13 during FP2.
Alonso also points to the Honda engine
Aston Martin’s difficulties are not limited, however, to top speed. Alonso has also identified several problems related to tire and energy management, with an engine behavior from Honda that seems particularly sensitive to how the driver approaches the last corners.
“It will be difficult to get everything perfectly in place, especially with tire temperature and battery charge level at the end of the lap. If you adopt a different driving style in the last corners, we sometimes seem very sensitive to that with the Honda engine.”
For Alonso and Aston Martin, this is still a learning phase. The British manufacturer must precisely understand how its power unit works in these different situations in order to avoid losing more performance at the decisive moment.
“There are still two or three things we are discovering and that we absolutely must correct.”
Qualifying becomes crucial
Alonso’s 17th place on Friday leaves little room for Aston Martin. The Spaniard could certainly improve once his technical problems are resolved and his program back on track, but his deficit on the straights is likely to remain a major handicap.
Under these circumstances, reaching Q2 would already be an important first step. The absence of a time from Lando Norris during FP2, after his gearbox problem, also slightly improved Alonso’s apparent position in the hierarchy, without masking the difficulties of the AMR26.
Alonso therefore relies heavily on qualifying to preserve his chances at home. With an Aston Martin particularly vulnerable on the straights, the Spaniard considers overtaking “almost impossible” and knows that a poor grid position could force him to hope for race incidents to move up on Sunday.
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