Sensational front line of Fernando Alonso in Jeddah: the lion roars again

The Red Bull They clearly have one more gear over the rest of the grid and they did not miss the pole position thanks to an excellent lap of Checo Perez. The Mexican benefited from Max Verstappen’s retirement due to a mechanical failure in the second phase of qualifying. However, given that he repeated his achievement last year, it is clear that the Jeddah track is very good at it. What perhaps was not expected is that immediately behind the situation was so tight. To Charles Leclerc, Fernando Alonso and George Russell parted them with a sigh.

The performance of the cars in race configuration remains to be seen. As far as pure speed is concerned, it was seen that Ferrari, Aston Martin and Mercedes are very even. That is perhaps the great hope that Fernando Alonso has to have a good race and that is how he assessed it as soon as he got out of the car: “It has been a very good weekend for us. Qualifying, as it happened in Bahrain, was our weakness, but today it seems that the car performed very well in just one lap. We are confident for the race, because the long course simulation (on Friday) was affected by track traffic. The car feels very solid and its strong point is the way we treat it.”

best race pace

Although the tire degradation is much less significant in Jeddah compared to what they experienced two weeks ago in bahrain, It is still a small advantage to be able to extend the moment of stopping a couple of laps more than your rivals. Likewise, when you have those two more laps in your pocket, there is a certain margin to make better use of the potential appearance of a safety car on the track, something that cannot be ruled out at this circuit. However, the really important thing is to start on the front row due to the difficulty of overtaking. Also to avoid problems in the first corner after the start.

This is how the two-time world champion assessed his chances in the race, where he put enthusiasm and caution in equal parts. “We’ll see what we can do tomorrow,” Fernando explained. “Charles (Leclerc) has a penalty, so we will start from the front row of the grid. It’s something incredible, but I don’t want to sound pessimistic, I don’t see that we can fight for victory. We have to be honest with ourselves and if we look at their (Red Bull’s) pace, all their free practice… They are a bit ahead of all of us, so let’s say that’s why fighting for victory cannot be the goal. with Checo (Perez).

Ferdinand’s realism

That was the realistic part of the Asturian’s speech, but, true to his style, he did not close the door to a possible victory and to promise what he does hope to fulfill: “As I said before, Formula 1 is often not math and anything can happen.. Look what happened to Max Verstappen, who will start fifteenth. For us (Aston Martin) the important thing is to score points. We started both cars in the top five, so our real objective is to finish both cars in the same top five and rack up points for the World Championship.”

The Spaniard has reasons to be cautious, because the threat from Mercedes and Ferrari at this circuit is very real. As Fernando emphasized, starting on the front row in only the second race of the season is something to be very happy about. In fact, it is the best grid position in its history and crystal clear confirmation that the spectacular performance of the green cars in Bahrain was not a flash in the pan. In any case, the statements of the poleman Checo Pérez regarding the options of his closest rival: “My focus for the race is to try to keep the lead in the initial laps and it will be fine if I get this lion (by Alonso) to go behind”. It is clear that the lion is back, watch out for his roar when the light turns green.

The Red Bull They clearly have one more gear over the rest of the grid and they did not miss the pole position thanks to an excellent lap of Checo Perez. The Mexican benefited from Max Verstappen’s retirement due to a mechanical failure in the second phase of qualifying. However, given that he repeated his achievement last year, it is clear that the Jeddah track is very good at it. What perhaps was not expected is that immediately behind the situation was so tight. To Charles Leclerc, Fernando Alonso and George Russell parted them with a sigh.