Fernando Alonso finished the Japanese Grand Prix very angry with the performance of his ARM25 and was very sarcastic during interviews after the race. But the highlight of his words was how he praised Max Verstappen, words that could have remained simple compliments if there were not growing rumors that the New Zealander will be his replacement at Aston Martin.
Alonso becomes great
Fernando Alonso was not at all satisfied after the Japanese Formula 1 GP. He missed out on points after an impeccable race, well above the performance of a car whose real position was much further back. Stroll finished last, without suffering any problems with his car. So the driver took it upon himself to praise himself, knowing that no one else would.
“No one will remember eleventh place at Suzuka, but it is one of my best races. I think I got the most out of the car and a little bit more.”
The Spaniard went on and began to shoot, subtly, but to shoot at his team: “I guess we aren’t fast enough to be in the top 18, being eleventh is a small miracle.” And he continued: “We have the slowest car on the straight”. “I got the most out of the car and a little bit more”. He concluded by asking the team to improve the AMR25. “We don’t have enough pace, I hope we can make progress”.
No hope for Bahrain
With hardly any time to rest, next week Formula 1 moves on to Bahrain and, although Alonso believes the car will perform better, he is not pinning his hopes on a big improvement.
“Bahrain is going to be very different. I think it will be a difficult weekend, but we are going to keep trying, today we hit the wall. We are not going to give up”. “We’ll have another opportunity to learn from the first three races and I hope we can continue developing the car”.
Comparison with Verstappen and a dig at Aston Martin
Fernando Alonso surrendered to Max Verstappen’s great weekend at the Japanese Grand Prix, where he achieved an impossible pole position and then managed to keep the two McLarens behind him for the entire race, achieving an incredible victory with a car that was much slower than his rivals.
“People aren’t aware, it reminds me of 2012.” ”I’ve fought for titles with the third or fourth car and in the end it’s difficult. I hope I can fight until the end, but they need to improve the car a little more. He won four titles so he can fight with a slightly less competitive car.”
At first glance, these words might seem like a simple acknowledgement of the Dutch driver, but there is something more behind them: Fernando Alonso’s bad start in the first two races has triggered, once again, speculation that Aston Martin might try to sign Max Verstappen to replace Fernando Alonso in view of the new regulations coming next season. Aston Martin has invested a lot of money in a winning project, with a new factory, new renowned engineers, a new wind tunnel and the hiring of Adrian Newey. The culmination of having a winning team would be to bring in the best driver on the current grid.
Fernando Alonso’s words are a way of vindicating himself, of showing off and his way of telling the team that he is still there, given today’s great performance, and at the same time inviting the team to make the decision it deems appropriate regarding his future.
Fernando Alonso is a born winner, he hasn’t had a good start but yesterday he showed once again that he is capable of putting a car that is “not even in the top 18” in contention for points. He wanted to say it and he wanted to send a message, that the race “is a small miracle” that he has made, that “we have the slowest car on the straight” and that “I hope we can progress”. Aston Martin should take note.