The weekend of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was not the easiest ever for Aston Martin, slowed down from the beginning of the weekend by some problems with the DRS which clearly impacted the performance over the flying lap. Over the long distance, however, the AMR23 performed much better, at times placing itself among the potential contenders to reach the podium by uncorking it from Charles Leclerc.
Taking advantage of the restart following the Safety Car that entered the track due to Nyck De Vries’ accident, Fernando Alonso made a nice overtaking move on Carlos Sainz, which gave him the opportunity to put the Monegasque in his sights. For the first part of the stint, the Spaniard tried to manage the pace, suddenly closing again thanks to a pace that dropped for a few laps under one minute and forty-six seconds.
A change of pace which, however, immediately saw a clear and marked response from Charles Leclerc, who in turn began to raise the pace by marking increasingly competitive themes, enough to create a margin of safety with which to then celebrate the first podium of the season at the finish line.
Alonso said Leclerc was “lucky” to hold out, as overcast conditions meant that temperatures cooled, helping the Monegasque manage the hard tires until the end. From the moment the riders put on the hard compound tires to the moment the checkered flag was displayed, the track temperature dropped by around 7°C.
“I think they were lucky. The hard tire degraded less than expected,” explained Alonso, so much so that Esteban Ocon managed to complete almost the distance of the entire Grand Prix on that same compound.
“We put on the hard tire when the Safety Car came on [per l’impatto del pilota AlphaTauri Nyck de Vries con il muretto interno della curva 5]. There were 38 laps to go. The grip was good and in the end there were also some clouds, so the track temperature dropped”.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-23, Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR23
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
“I think that with the medium tires the Ferraris degraded a lot in the first stint. In a normal hot race, I think they will struggle a little more. Today went well for them, but in Miami [la prossima gara, in condizioni di umidità] it will be different”, added the Spaniard, referring to the degradation problems that the Ducati experienced in the first two rounds of the season.
Given what happened over the weekend, from the problems with the DRS in qualifying to a race full of ups and downs, Alonso said he was in any case very satisfied to have come just two and a half seconds behind Ferrari, especially as the characteristics of the Azeri track are better suited to the SF-23 than to those of the AMR23.
“The summary of the weekend is that Aston had a difficult weekend in Baku due to DRS and set-up issues. We weren’t very quick in any of the sessions and are still 1s off the podium.”
“Ferrari had a perfect weekend: pole position for the main race, pole position in the sprint race, very fast car. But they finished just one second behind the Astons, so overall we have to be happy.”
Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR23
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Alonso attracted attention in the race for pointing out the benefits of a modified brake bias setting, instructing his race engineer to pass the advice on to teammate Lance Stroll: “The work everyone at Aston Martin has done is extraordinary”.
“Between Lance and I are aware of this. We are trying to help the team as much as possible. If we find something on the car that we didn’t notice during the strategy meeting, we try to share it immediately via radio”.
“At the moment, everything works perfectly, and that’s probably our strength and that’s why we are second in the constructors’ championship, because we only think about the team,” added the two-time world champion.
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