Fernando Alonso

Fernando Alonso has issued a brilliant response to Red Bull Racing and Mercedes by claiming that the Aston Martin is most similar to Alpine.

“Mercedes says that 50 percent of our car is theirs and Red Bull says that 50 percent of the car is theirs. Alonso’s jibe at his rivals did not end there as he added that the competitor teams were surprised more than anything else on seeing the staggering improvement Aston Martin had made compared to last season. The Spaniard believes there are clear differences between the AMR23 and RB19 (Red Bull’s 2023 car), as the two cars look very different visually.

It is easy to understand why Alonso is loving life as an Aston Martin driver so much right now, with his switch to the Silverstone-based squad already looking ...

Fernando Alonso has conceded he has 'no idea' where Aston Martin stands in F1's pecking order for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

"But we tested what we wanted to test in the car. [Ferrari](https://www.gpfans.com/en/f1-teams/scuderia-ferrari/) was off the pace during the opening day in Jeddah, with Aston Martin's closest rivals for second-quickest [Mercedes](https://www.gpfans.com/en/f1-teams/mercedes-amg-petronas/) and Alpine. [Verstappen in command as traffic bedlam sparks Saudi Arabian GP qualifying fears](https://www.gpfans.com/en/f1-news/103610/saudi-arabian-gp-second-practice-results-report/) But allaying fears of a deeper issue, the two-time champion said: "It was just functioning things with the downshifts, we do that all the time."

Fernando Alonso has downplayed Aston Martin's pace deficit on the straights at the Bahrain GP and said that their performance depends on different wing ...

So tomorrow is going to be a test day for may teams including us, trying to know the car in a different circuit and how it operates." "We just focus on ourselves, there is a challenge in front of us here in Jeddah and in Australia to see how the car operates. All the others were with a regulation change but this one is with the same regulations plus the cost cap. Maybe Ferrari will wish to have a bigger rear wing in Bahrain or whatever, just to have less top speed and grip in the corners. So as I said, it depends on how you setup the car, it’s very early in the season, we don’t have all the parts available." "I think that’s also a part of the rear wing choices you make," Fernando Alonso said.

Fernando Alonso insists he has "no idea" about the pecking order for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, despite another strong practice outing for the team.

"We tested all that we wanted to test in the car. "I have no idea. "But obviously there are a lot of free practices, a lot of days between races, a lot of data to analyse, and a lot of predictions and estimations for you guys to do.

The Aston Martin can't be a Red Bull copy, says Fernando Alonso, after all Mercedes claim the AMR23 is "half ours".

“We have a different concept than those two cars although it is true that visually all the cars look a bit alike. “We have to wait and improve the car in all the weak points that we identify in these first races.” and there can be no two more different concepts than those two. Not only did Fallows change, but also some other employees and they obviously have a good memory.” “I would say that the car most similar to ours, to tell you the truth, is the Alpine, with the sidepods with those tunnels,” he said. Asked to expand on his belief about the AMR23 being different, he said: “Visually they are different and an example of this is that Mercedes says that 50 percent of their car is ours [engine, gearbox and suspension] and Red Bull says that 50 percent is theirs…

Fernando Alonso isn't getting carried away despite Aston Martin's encouraging form in Friday practice at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.