Alonso Believes Seventh Place was “maximum” Achievement at 2023 Spanish GP

Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso believes that seventh place was the “maximum” achievement at a “tricky” 2023 Spanish Grand Prix.

Floor damage in Qualifying left Alonso ninth on the grid at his home race – which became eighth due to a six-place grid penalty for Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, although the Spaniard believed that he “had the pace to be fighting at the front.”

Aston Martin Team Principal, Mike Krack praised Alonso for his Qualifying performance despite his issues, as he commented: “Fernando got caught out on a wet patch in the final corner during his out lap, he ran wide, and picked up significant floor damage by going through the gravel trap.

“With a big loss of downforce, it was a remarkable achievement to see him progress through to Q3.”

Alonso however struggled to make much impact in the race as he eventually finished seventh after trying a brave two-stop strategy of starting on fresh soft tyres, followed by used soft tyres to try and gain track position before he finished seventh with 22 laps on new hard tyres.

The Spaniard though admitted post-race that he lacked pace on both tyre compounds in what he described as “a tricky race” at his home event.

Explaining exactly how his race unfolded as he finished just behind his teammate – Lance Stroll, Alonso said: “We tried to go longer on our strategy and hoped it would pay off later with fresher tyres, but our rivals had a little more pace.

“I think sixth and seventh positions were the maximum for us. I thought our performance seemed better in qualifying, so I think we need to look at why and aim to bounce back for Canada.”

Aston Martin meanwhile lost second in the constructors’ standings to Mercedes but Alonso is happy that the team managed to score “solid points” with little risk in the closing laps.