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Fernando Alonso Cools Expectations Over Aston Martin Upgrades

By Abhishek Dogra

— Published on
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Fernando Alonso's AMR26 at the Chinese Grand Prix
Credits:Liauzh / Wikimedia commons•Wikimedia commons

It doesn't look like Fernando Alonso is as excited about the new Aston Martin upgrades as the fans are. Ahead of the Hungarian GP, the F1 veteran sat down with Franco Colapinto and Carlos Sainz at the pre-race press conference and did not hold back when asked about the anticipation behind driving an upgraded car for the first time this weekend.

"I don't think it changes anything to the approach that we had so far this year. We go into every race trying to maximise what we have in our hands. We're here to win races and to fight for championship." He said.

According to Alonso, Aston Martin as a team made the mistake of not improving through every race like the other teams and are trying to compensate for everything with a single upgrade. "If we go back to the last five races, I think we have very different gaps with midfields. We've more or less consistent gap to the pole position, which is unreachable honestly, at this moment."

You can watch the full interview here:

Aston Martin is not giving up on Adrian Newey

"I have zero doubts that Adrian will provide the best car sooner or later, and I would like to see the step with this package and the understanding after the first couple of races, and I think that is going to be more for next year and in the years to come." (H/T ↗︎RacingNews365)

Despite the tough season, Alonso struck an optimistic tone about the team's trajectory. He said this doesn't change a team's natural position by Sunday, adding that he's optimistic and very proud of the work the team has done since the Bahrain test, when they first recognized the car's problems and had to fix several weaknesses. He called the Hungary upgrade the first step in those fixes, with more still to come.

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