The smile goes with the uniform.
Over that electric green suit so typical, so beautiful, all the Aston Martin mechanics wear a smile, a shy smile, but always a smile.
First thing in the morning they arrive at the Bahrain circuit and there it is, the smile.
While they bustle with the car and prepare it to fly, they cannot hide their smile.
And, of course, when Fernando Alonso sets the fastest time in the third free practice session, he smiles.
A camera focuses on the garage and they try to hide it, but it is impossible.
The smile goes with the uniform.
Because all the work of the last days, of the last weeks, of the last months, of the last years has been worth it.
This Saturday (4:00 p.m., DAZN), after dominating throughout the weekend, Alonso will compete for pole position at the Bahrain circuit and this Sunday in the race he will be one of the candidates for victory.
If any fans were left with doubts on Friday they should already be convinced.
Another batch, again, the Spaniard finished first and ahead of the reigning champion, Max Verstappen.
Again there are questions about the gasoline load of the opponents, about how much they demanded from their engines, about how much they mistreated their tires, and about the conditions of the track -very different in the afternoon, without sun-, but it is undeniable that Alonso is there .
In another short stint on soft tyres, the two-time champion's fastest laps were lightning fast, especially the last sector, where he has no rival.
Verstappen, who kept his strength at the beginning of the session, tried to pass him at the end, but fell to five hundredths.
A sigh, but behind.
Like Checo Pérez, third, just one tenth behind or Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, two tenths behind.
The five seem to be the candidates for pole position, with Carlos Sainz far behind, eighth.
"You're still first, Fernando", they told Alonso on the radio, after finishing his best lap and he responded incredulously: "Really?".
He thought that the Red Bulls would pass him by.
Then he went through the weigh-in of the International Automobile Federation (FIA) and went to rest in his booth, always wearing the same accessory to his team's uniform: a smile.
If he takes pole position, it will be his first since the German Grand Prix in July 2012. Since then, almost 11 years and 169 qualifying sessions have passed in which he has not achieved it, a record distance: the previous one was Kimi Raikkonen with eight years between two of his triumphant Saturdays.
He would be number 23 of his career and at 41 he would become the fifth-oldest driver on the front of the grid behind only Giuseppe Farina, Juan Manuel Fangio, Jack Brabham and Mario Andretti.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
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