After an exciting start to the season, racking up five podiums in six Grands Prix, Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin lowered the bar two weeks ago at the Circuit de Barcelona. An error with the wet asphalt in Q1 ended up conditioning the Asturias’ worst weekend so far this season and left him in seventh final position. “It’s not a drama”, warned the team manager Mike Krakconvinced that the package of improvements that will be integrated between Canadian GP, ​​which starts this Friday, and that of Silverstone (July 9) will bring them back to the fight in the lead, so far the intractable Red Bull are in another league. As if things weren’t stressful enough already, the team owner, the Canadian mogul Laurent Promenade, He set the bar very high for the home race.

“Hopefully both cars get on the podium. Those are exactly our plans. I have a lot of confidence in Fernando and Lance and I think the AMR23 will be very strong this Sunday at the Montreal circuit. Our car will suit well on the track . So I am very happy to have a good career in my country”, warns Lawrence Stroll, a successful and hugely ambitious businessman, who set out to make Aston Martin a champion team in the short to medium term.

After inaugurating the team’s new facilities at Silverstone two weeks ago, To stroll He hopes his macro investment will continue to translate into great results and he doesn’t even want to hear of a rollback, although in Barcelona they have already lost second place in the Constructors’ Championship to Mercedes. , who placed Hamilton and Russell on the podium escorting the leader of Red Bull Max Verstappen.

“I think we are providing solutions to solve the problems in Barcelona and there will be updates in Canada. In Lance, he showed in the Spanish GP that he was starting now. After the accident in pre- season, he needed six or seven races to feel better with the car, I think he and Fernando will be even at the end of the season”, he predicts Lawrence, who has blind faith in his eldest son and also in the motivation of Alonso, who is about to turn 42, shows his best version behind the wheel. “I’m sure the 33rd will come this year,” says the Aston Martin owner.

Alonso’s best time trial with Alpine

A year ago, when I was racing at the wheel of the Alpine, Also was weighed down by multitude of failures and various problems in the race. And in qualifying, going to Q3 was already a success. However, at the 2022 Canadian GP, ​​Fernando slipped onto the front row of the grid after more than 10 years. A classification passed by the water in the circuit of Gilles Villeneuve allowed him to be in second position, only behind max verstappen. On Sunday, the scenario was different. The race was dry and problems with his car and a five-second penalty saw him finish ninth, well off the top three.

This year, the circumstances are very different. Gilles Villeneuve’s fast layout will test the aerodynamic resistance of single-seaters, one of the main points of attention on which Aston Martin technicians have been working since the pre-season. The AMR23 will incorporate upgrades to the floor and the front and rear fenders and Alonso is confident he will be able to make another qualitative leap that will bring him closer to the Red Bulls. And of course, to get back on the podium.

“Last year I started second on the grid after a chaotic and wet qualifying session, it may rain again this weekend so we will keep an eye on the radar,” says Alonso . “The circuit is fun and while overtaking can be tough, it can also put on some amazing races, so we’ll be ready for anything,” he added.

“The atmosphere in Barcelona was phenomenal, but we had a difficult Saturday, and on Sunday we didn’t have enough pace to put on a show for the fans, so the aim is to have a calm weekend and mark the as many points as possible,” confidently warns the double Spanish champion.