King of the wet corners: Alonso relishes getting the better of Mercedes
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Fernando Alonso showed why, despite his advancing years, he still belongs in Formula 1. Although he could be winning in other championships or relaxing on a beach somewhere, he is working tirelessly to drag Aston Martin into the points. In Sao Paulo, however, his Sunday was not as bleak as usual. He even showed Mercedes how it should be done through the corners.
Aston Martin started from an excellent eighth on the grid, but Alonso lost four places in a matter of seconds. Ollie Bearman lost control of his car ahead of him. Alonso immediately hit the brakes but could not avoid contact. He also lost momentum, allowing several rivals to capitalise.
Confira o momento em que Bearman acaba escorregando e atrapalhando Alonso depois do S do Senna. 📸
The car sustained minor damage, but Fernando Alonso said it was nothing serious. “No, it didn’t compromise much. I think it was tricky, but as always in these conditions, obviously our lap ones are always compromised by the lack of speed on the straight. So we just defend how it is possible to defend. Depends on track, so yeah, here it was difficult.”
On a wet track, however, the differences between power units are less pronounced. Alonso was very quick on intermediates. His move on Lewis Hamilton at Turn 6 was one of the highlights of Sunday’s race.
“Yeah, yeah, I think, yeah, it was probably the best race for the car feeling today. The car was phenomenal on the corners and, as you said, we were battling with the Ferraris at one point, and even now the last five laps on the inters, we were in the mix with the two Mercedes,” said a pleased Alonso.
The closer conditions came to those of a dry Grand Prix, the more Aston Martin struggled. The positive was that, on a wet track, it could even compete with the constructors’ champion.
According to Alonso, Mercedes was being outclassed through the corners but saved by its power unit. “One lap down, but we were with the Mercedes, you know, taking into account how much we lose on the straights, that means that probably today we could have been maybe one second faster than them per lap. So, as I said, the car was phenomenal,” he said of the AMR26’s performance in the wet.
