The effort to contain Oscar Piastri and George Russell until reaching the checkered flag in sixth position, left more than happy Fernando Alonso in Suzuka. “It was my best race in at least a year. Since April or May 2023, I have never had a weekend as complete as this one. It is surely among the five best races of my life, although no one will ever remember it, because “I finished sixth and was fifth in the classification,” said the Aston Martin leader.
Alonso’s consistency at the wheel of the AMR-24 was transferred to the time table, where his race pace was 95 hundredths faster than that of Lance Stroll. Despite recovering four positions, from sixteenth on the grid to twelfth at the finish line, the Canadian had been very upset with the performance of his car. “It’s incredible how bad our speed is on the straight. We seem like a different category,” he lamented over the radio. However, according to data from the speed trapStroll reached 333 km/h, the fourth best record on the grid, only behind the Haas and Russell.
Without confirming the aerodynamic improvements on the floor and sidepods of the green car, the truth is that Alonso knew how to compete side by side against McLaren and Mercedes, whose mechanical superiority was once again evident. “Our natural position is ninth and tenth. We finished fifth yesterday, which was a small miracle. And sixth today… a big miracle. I will always have this race in my memory, although it will be forgotten by the public after two or three days” , value the two-time world champion.
‘Pit-stop’ of 2.3 seconds
Among the positive aspects of Sunday, it is also worth highlighting the speed of the Aston Martin tires during the two pit-stops of his leader. “Wow. It was very fast. Thanks, guys,” exclaimed the Asturian after an excellent passage through the pits resolved in 2.3 seconds. The good harmony with the engineers and mechanics will be tested again in 15 days at the return of the Chinese GP. “We still have to analyze our upgrade package, so we will take a look at all our data before we arrive in Shanghai,” Fernando anticipated.
Finally, the double winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans wanted to send a message to the FIA regarding his duel against Russell. When asked if he had given the DRS to Piastri to protect himself from the British driver from Mercedes, Alonso argued in a way that was halfway between joking and criticism.
“I don’t know what to say after Australia. They might disqualify me for the rest of the championship…” Fernando started, referring to the maneuver against Russell punished with 10 seconds by the FIA. “It’s clear that having Piastri behind me was a way to defend myself against Russell. He probably took off a little bit of the battery in the last stretch so that Piastri could get closer. That’s what he did. Carlos [Sainz] last year in Singapore: give DRS to the second to protect himself from the third. It’s something normal that we do in all races,” concluded the man from Oviedo.