Alonso sent blunt reality check by Aston Martin chief despite F1 podium success

12 May 2023 , 09:53

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Fernando Alonso is loving life back towards the front of the F1 grid again (Image: AP)

Fernando Alonso was warned to keep his "feet on the ground" after the Spaniard's declaration that he is eyeing a fight with the championship-leading Red Bulls.

Aston Martin have enjoyed a fairytale start to the new Formula 1 season. The Silverstone-based team has made remarkable strides in terms of car performance in the last 18 months and, after the first five races of the year, is best of the rest in the standings behind only the defending champions.

Lance Stroll has been scoring well, but Alonso has secured the lion's share of their haul so far with four podiums out of five races so far. But Red Bull have been so dominant that the gap between them is already at 122 points.

Not that it fazes Alonso. Buoyed by the position he finds himself in at this stage in his career, he was bullish about his ambitions in the coming races as he spoke to the TV cameras after finishing third in Miami last weekend.

"I think at the beginning of the year a podium was amazing. Now after four podiums we want obviously more, and at least a second place," he said. "The two Red Bulls are always unbreakable, and they are always super-fast. But maybe Monaco, maybe Barcelona we have a possibility."

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But Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack is more realistic. And he warned anyone involved with the team not to take its current position for granted considering how difficult podiums can be to come by in F1.

"Feet on the ground, you should never take a podium in F1 as normal or as a given," said the Luxembourger. "It's a lot of hard work involved to be on the podium and you have very, very strong competitors in Formula 1, very professional. And if we are not 100% in all areas at all times, then there is no podium."

Mike Krack doesn't want Aston Martin to take podiums for granted (Hasan Bratic/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)

At the same time, Krack is keen not to waste any time worrying about the teams behind his. "We're not really observing too much what is their situation, where do they come from or what do they do next," he told reporters. "We do our thing, we have our plan and it will not change so much if one of the other teams brings upgrades every race.

"Our plan cannot change because, otherwise, we are always reactive. It is important that you define yourself, put the roadmap in place, define what you need and you follow it, and obviously you need to react left and right depending on how the development goes. But you should not get too much taken away by what the others are doing.

"We're pushing quite hard on the developments, and we're quite confident that for the next events, the difference will not be too big as the development race goes on. But then what comes after say mid-season, we cannot say at this stage because we have to see who has spent how much and where you are at that stage."

Daniel Moxon