• Chronicle The tactic saves Alonso and sinks Sainz at Silverstone
  • Incident Gasly's push to Sainz for a normal overtaking: "Poor thing"
  • 2023 Verstappen World Championship, with 99 points advantage

After so many years, Fernando Alonso conceals disappointments and joys in the same way. Nobody like him knows that in Formula 1 everything lasts a week, if not a couple. In front of cameras and microphones, it's hard to tell if he's happy, angry, elated, or disappointed. In the first races of the World Championship he betrayed an uncontrollable smile. Then, impossible. Always moderate, always cerebral. But there is a detail that, if observed in detail, in great detail, gives you away. When he is satisfied, he expands, allows two or three more questions, answers in English and Spanish. When it isn't, it just delivers. This Sunday, at Silverstone, he was the first driver with points to leave the mixed zone: bad sign.

Thanks to Aston Martin's good strategy, the punctual appearance of the safety car and its defense against certain rivals, Alonso was able to finish seventh, a better position than expected, but his evolution in the season is decreasing. Maybe that's the bad thing about stringing together five podiums in the first six rounds of the year: then you want more. And the opposite is happening to Spaniard. Why?

"It's a little bit of everything. Other teams have improved, they have brought new parts that work. This weekend's circuit was not one of the best for us. And also Pirelli has introduced new tyres and we have to understand them," said the Aston Martin leader on a cold Sunday. In every way, cold. In his brevity he was uneasy, but not much either. His situation is confusing: in Montmeló, in Spielberg and this Sunday in Silverstone he was far from the podium, but in Canada he even opted for victory. His situation is confusing: however, he is third in the World Championship, has never finished worse than seventh and has always been in Q3 on Saturdays in qualifying.

BEN STANSALLAFP

"I'm not too worried. The car is better than we expected this year, we fight for things that in pre-season we never dreamed of. If we can fight against the best it will be fantastic, but you have to look at it with perspective. We can't stress if we're not on the podium, we have to relax," he said and in that line announced a different mood for the next race: "We have saved a very difficult weekend and I hope that in Hungary we will be competitive again."

The improvement of others

In reality, if Max Verstappen's Red Bull is taken as a yardstick, Aston Martin has not taken a step back. The Dutchman, winner of the race ahead of Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton, finished again with about 20 seconds ahead of Alonso, the same as in Jeddah or Miami. The problem is that other teams have been placed in the middle. Mercedes, Ferrari and even McLaren have improved their cars to discuss the podiums to Alonso and so, depending on the circuit, they celebrate one or the other.

On difficult tracks, where corners are slow, where dexterity is required, Alonso enjoys his expertise and because the Aston Martin is a pleasant car to drive. On the runways, where you have to fly, where you need speed, the Spaniard suffers. "If someone is faster I can't do anything. We have to understand and learn. I'm not happy with a seventh place, but last year the Aston Martins were last here. In Canada we fought for victory and it's only been three weeks. You can not say that we were fast at the beginning of the season and now we are not, "claimed Alonso who finished: "This seventh place is better than the pace we had."

And he was right. For the first time this year Alonso was able to finish outside the points, of the top 10 of the race: his teammate, Lance Stroll, was fourteenth without suffering any accident. The seventh was a success. In the first stage of the race, after another magnificent start, Alonso found himself defining himself against an Alpine driver, Pierre Gasly, to avoid falling to ninth place, but the Spaniard was saved thanks to the strategy. Unlike others, Alonso endured, and endured, and endured on track waiting for what finally happened: a car, Kevin Magnussen's Haas, caught fire, and the safety car appeared. Blessing. Joy!

Alonso, who was one of the four who had not yet passed through the pits – the others were the inhabitants of the podium, Verstappen, Norris and Hamilton – won several positions and from there, despite the comeback of Checo Pérez, seventh. On the last lap he even had to protect himself from a Williams driver, Alex Albon, who also seemed faster than him. There were reasons to trigger nervousness around Alonso, but there are more reasons for calm.

  • Fernando Alonso
  • Articles Javier Sánchez
  • Sergio Perez
  • Kevin Magnussen
  • Lewis Hamilton
  • Max Verstappen
  • Mercedes GP
  • McLaren F1

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Learn more