Ahead of the Dutch GP, Fernando Alonso talked about Aston Martin’s unexpected pace in Hungary, a relaxed and pragmatic approach to the remaining weekends, and aiming for P5 in the F1 Constructors’ Championship.
Alonso scored his best result of the season before the break when he finished a strong P5 in the Hungarian GP.
A positive result, which came as a bit of a surprise, and was likely down to track characteristics, says the Spaniard, considering Aston Martin was far off pace in Spa.
Thus, Alonso wasn’t sure if another Top 5 finish was in the cards when talking in a print media session ahead of the Dutch GP.
“Difficult to say.
“I think it was kind of a surprise, the pace in Budapest for us.
“One tenth and a half from pole position and then P5 from the race.
“I think it was a little bit down to the circuit characteristics.
“I would like to think so because the previous week we were very slow in Spa.
“So I think it’s going to be track-dependent from now on.
“Maybe there is a circuit in the remaining ten races that is a little bit better for us, and we will try not to miss the opportunity.”
A relaxed and pragmatic approach to the remaining F1 races
Aston Martin has experienced ups and downs in terms of results all season.
While the Hungarian GP was certainly a high point, there is no guarantee that similar results can be replicated during the remaining races, including this weekend’s Dutch GP.
Due to the unpredictability of the current F1 season and Aston Martin not being in the fight for the Championship, Alonso believes in a ‘relaxed and pragmatic’ approach, aiming for the best possible result in each of the upcoming races.
“You never know.
“After Spa, we went to Hungary, thinking honestly to go through Q1.
“Because we were dead last in Spa, and we were very cautious about our pace in Budapest, and then we had a happy surprise.
“So, I think we cannot guarantee that Zandvoort will be good or bad, or Monza or Singapore.
“I think we will take race by race.
“We are not fighting for the World Championship, unfortunately.
“So it’s not that every weekend result is the end of the world for us.
“We try to do as best as we can and score more points than our main competitors.
“But a very relaxed and very pragmatic approach every weekend.”
Aiming for P5 in the F1 Constructors’ Championship
Taking home 16 points due to the strong results of Alonso and Stroll in Hungary, Aston Martin now sits in P6 in the F1 Constructors’ Championship.
One place down from where they finished the previous season and 2023, and where they hoped to finish this current campaign as well.
However, the season didn’t go quite as well as the team had hoped, leading the team to believe that it would not be achievable this year.
After reducing the gap before the summer break, Alonso believes that P5 might be a bit more attainable.
“It is a goal.
“We don’t want to do worse than the previous years.
“It has been two years that we’ve been 5th in the Constructors’ Championship.
“That was the goal at the beginning of the year, to be 5th.
“We started quite bad and at one point we thought 5th would not be possible.
“Now it seems a little bit of a possibility again.
“As I said, sometimes, being 5th, 6th, or 3rd, it doesn’t matter.
“Here you win or you don’t.
“This year, we will not win the championship.”
