Alonso praises drivers’ cleanliness during the race
The Spaniard achieved his best result since Canada with sixth place. The two-time world champion was nevertheless keen to emphasize the risks taken, but perfectly controlled, by all the drivers on a circuit as difficult and dangerous as Baku.
This is a week that will restore confidence to the entire Aston Martin team. At the beginning of last week, the British team announced the arrival of the famous engineer Adrian Newey starting from next season. A prestigious recruit supposed to give a new dimension to the project, which seems to have been stagnating for several months, and to help Aston Martin achieve its goals. On the track, the results were also satisfactory as the team based in Silverstone leaves Azerbaijan with 8 more points thanks to the sixth place obtained by Fernando Alonso. The Oviedo native praised the work done by Aston Martin, which allowed him to be in the right place at the right time after the accident between the two Spanish speakers, Sainz and Perez.
A perfectly optimized result
« A normal weekend only allows teams from the middle of the field to finish ninth or tenth, » he told the media, including RaceFans. « Thanks to a few incidents ahead of us, sixth place was up for grabs and we were there to take it. A tough race, obviously, no moment to relax, but somehow, well executed. Good pit stops with the strategy, good management of tire degradation. Maybe not an incredible pace this weekend, but we still executed the race well to score a lot of points », summarized the double world champion from Spain, delighted to be able to score so many points in one race after tough weeks, deserved points that should do the team a lot of good. « For us, it wasn’t any different, obviously, Monza P11, not really rewarded for that race, and here a lot of points, so one made up for the other », explained the former Ferrari driver.
Pilots who were very clean according to Alonso.
On a circuit as technical, where the slightest mistake can be dramatic and given the many red flags raised during the free practice sessions, the Spaniard praised the cleanliness of the drivers despite the challenges of the track and the risks they had to take to attempt overtaking manoeuvres. « I think the level of risk and precision that needs to be applied in a race like today is exceptional, for everyone, all 20 drivers. With a low level of grip, I think we all drove at 100% each lap. It was very impressive that there was no safety car or any accidents during the race. »
During the vast majority of the race, the drivers remained clean, except for the incident between Stroll and Tsunoda on the first lap. However, the crash between Sainz and Perez contradicts Alonso’s words as both drivers collided on the straight leading to turn 3, hitting the wall and retiring. Nevertheless, the Safety Car did not intervene, marking the eighth consecutive time this season, as the FIA has prohibited finishing a race under the safety car since the controversy of Abu Dhabi 2021. For Alonso, this demonstrates the talent of the drivers who took exceptional risks but managed them perfectly, as seen in Piastri’s overtake on Leclerc at the first corner.
With six more points, Aston Martin is pulling away in fifth place in the constructors’ championship and now has a 48-point lead over its main pursuer, Racing Bulls. A renewed confidence seems to be found at Aston Martin, which sees a bright future ahead of it.
