01/05/2023
NEWS STORY
Missing out on his fourth successive podium, Fernando Alonso claims Ferrari was lucky in Azerbaijan.
Plagued by DRS issues for much of the Baku weekend, a typically persistent performance saw the two-time world champion hard on the heels of Charles Leclerc for much of Sunday afternoon.
In between sharing brake balance advice with his teammate and noting the tyre wear on pretty much the rest of the field, the Spaniard maintained an almost constant 2-3 second gap to the Ferrari ahead.
In the final laps he recorded a number of fastest laps but at the flag was still running fourth, albeit 0.807s behind. Not bad, considering the DRS issues and the fact that Aston Martin didn't expect to be competitive here.
"The summary of the weekend is that Aston had a tricky Baku weekend with the DRS problems and the set-up," said Alonso at race end. "We weren't that fast in any of the sessions, but we're still one second from the podium.
"Ferrari, they had a perfect weekend," he continued. "Pole position for the main race, pole position in the sprint race, super-fast car... yet they were just one second from the Astons. So overall, we have to be happy.
"They got lucky," he added. "The hard tyre had less degradation than expected. The tailwind was quite random and here in Baku you are always on the edge. We put on the hard tyres when the Safety Car came, and it was 38 laps to the end.
"It held on quite okay, then there was some clouds at the end and the track temp dropped.
"On the medium tyres, the Ferrari's had massive degradation in the first stint. So, in a normal hot race I think they will struggle more. Today, was good for them, but Miami will be a different thing," he warned.
Paying tribute to his team, he said: "The job that everyone has done in Aston Martin is extraordinary. Between Lance and me, we are aware of that. We are trying to help the team as much as we can.
"If we find something on the car that we didn't spot in the strategy meeting, we try to share it immediately by radio.
"At the moment, everything is working perfectly. This is our strength, probably, and that's why we are second in the Constructors' Championship: because we think only of the team."
Check out our Sunday gallery from Baku here.