F1, Fernando Alonso amazes: ‘We are with the best’

Aston Martin is already the revelation of this start of the season

Fernando Alonso’s first place in Friday’s free practice in Bahrain confirms what Aston Martin showed in last week’s testing.

After free practice, the Asturian did not give too much away but spoke clearly: “We definitely took another step in the right direction today. The car gave good sensations again. We have to wait to understand, though. We don’t need to focus too much on the times, we need to improve some things in terms of the set-up of the car. It is still very early.”

“We are in the process of approaching the race, we need to change various things. We need to strengthen in various areas, not only in the performance of the car. It will be an interesting process, the team is learning every day,” the two-time world champion explained to Sky’s microphones. “Do I expect this? Let’s see what will happen in the first races. For now it’s just been good test sessions.”

Alonso praised owner Lawrence Stroll and his team for their work: “Lawrence has a vision in every house he does. To see him fail at something is difficult, and in general I think it’s only a matter of time before Aston Martin can challenge the top teams. We’re in the middle of an interesting process, with new car and technical department and a lot of things we’re learning. But there is still a long way to go.”