Fernando Alonso arrived at the paddock of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya de Montmeló practically at the race, followed by a cloud of media, eager to get his first impressions on his home GP. The most recurring question was about a certain 33, a trend in the networks since he wore green Aston Martin. Will his 33rd victory come this Sunday at the Spanish GP, precisely the 33rd at the Circuit, a decade after his last victory in F1 (in the 2013 Spanish GP)?
Then Alonso puts the brakes on and puts things in their place:
–At Aston Martin we are aware of this euphoria of the fans and we would like to give it as soon as possible… But I don’t know if we can promise anything this weekend. Red Bull has been dominant this first part of the year and I see no reason why it cannot be so again here. You have to keep your feet on the ground and approach the race in a humble way, which has gone well for us so far, and an opportunity will come up during the year. But maybe not this weekend.
Fernando Alonso finds it difficult to contain this popular euphoria that has been unleashed with his fabulous start with Aston Martin, unthinkable when he signed for the greens last August, and when he visited the Silverstone factory for the first time in February. But five podiums in six races are his “new reality” that he didn’t count on.
These were the reflections of the Asturian driver before the media in the run-up to his 20th Spanish Grand Prix.
“I arrive wanting to enjoy, this year has been fantastic in terms of results, and being able to share it with the fans is going to be a nice experience. I’ve had a lot of support from the beginning, from the tests, all tinged with green, and being able to experience it here first hand, have direct contact with the fans”.
“I don’t think I’m closer to winning (after 2nd in Monaco), we’re in the same position as in Monaco. Checo came out of the equation and we were able to fight for second place. We’ve had similar opportunities at the start of the season In Monaco we were close but in the race we saw the potential of the Red Bulls, with a great pace from Max with the midfielders. We’ll see where we have another chance.”
“You can’t stop it, it would be impossible, it’s like wanting to put doors to the sea, in the end it will surpass you. If there is a trend and the fans take a path, it is better to embrace it and follow that path. There is a lot of talk about 33, I am calm, knowing that we have a car that is going to give us chances this year”.
“Red Bull now dominates with an iron fist, but we already saw these years ago, with very dominant cars, that Gasly won a race in Monza, that Ocon won in Hungary, last year Russell won in Brazil… So the opportunities are going to to get there at some point in the season. In Monaco we were close. What we can’t do is go crazy and have a moment of frustration and finish 9th because of a mistake or risking too much, or going out of a corner trying to overtake where You can’t. We’re going to keep adding points and we’ll do the math at the end of the year.”
“Our project is more long-term, not from weekend to weekend. Other teams go short-term, we have a more long-term mission. We found ourselves in a position we didn’t expect. We wanted to get to know the car better. this year, give it time, evolve it, and in 2024 try to fight for podiums, that was the objective when I first arrived at the factory. Seeing us here has been a nice surprise: we have enough points or more than we thought we would get in everything the championship. It’s a gift every weekend”.
“Achieving a podium at home is special. After six races, being five on the podium… if you can choose, you choose the home Grand Prix, in any position, and being able to share it with the people. But you have to earn it from Friday. We come three street circuits where we haven’t been able to test too many things on the car, and this Friday will be a test day for everyone.”
“That always happens in F1, there is always a dominant car, Red Bull years ago [with Vettel], then Mercedes with Hamilton and Bottas, now Verstappen and Pérez. But we are only in race 7 of 22, we are all going to make improvements, the championship is long, and to get a victory there has to be a crack in your weekend. In Monaco it was Pérez’s, who made a small mistake in qualifying, and hopefully on some weekend the two will have some little problem and hopefully we can be there to take advantage of it. But right now it’s an unbeatable team”.
“In many things I have changed: when you are 30 or 40 years old we all change our mentality, you are more mature, calmer, you do not spend energy on things that are not necessary, and in terms of driving I do not think much has changed. I have the same desire. I still feel less pressure, I do notice that. 10 years ago when I came home to race, I did feel more pressure, it was also motivating, but now more than pressure I feel emotion from driving at home, seeing people, I enjoy it more than I did before.
