Fernando Alonso looking to be 'candidate' for VICTORY in Singapore

Alonso in aanloop naar race in Canada — Photo: © LAT Images

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Alonso looking to be 'candidate' for VICTORY in Singapore

The two-time world champion hopes to win a race before the season's out

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Monday 11 September 2023 06:57

Fernando Alonso has said that he hopes to be a 'candidate' for the race win at the upcoming Singapore Grand Prix..

The 42-year-old Spaniard has been rejuvenated with his new Aston Martin team this season, claiming seven podium finishes in the first 14 races and sitting in third place in the drivers' championship behind the two dominant Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.

He has largely outperformed the performance of the car, reflected by the fact his team-mate Lance Stroll is in ninth in the championship, 123 points behind the two-time world champion.

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However, the car's performance in recent races hasn't looked quite up to scratch, and a second place finish at the Dutch Grand Prix in chaotic conditions perhaps papered over cracks that have started to appear.

His ninth place finish at the Italian GP may be more of an indication of where the car's performance is at currently, challenging in the midfield for a chance to break into the top six or so.

Despite this, Alonso is adamant that he can still win his first race since the 2013 Spanish GP this season, and is looking ahead to Singapore later in September hoping to be a challenger to Verstappen and Perez once again.

“Singapore will be better than Monza, that's for sure," he told Mundo Deportivo.

"But to win a race we already know how hard it is. With Red Bull performing at an incredible level every Sunday. We will see if we are one of the candidates for Singapore."

Multiple teams in the battle for the podium positions

There has been a real battle for the final two podium positions in 2023, behind Max Verstappen's dominant Red Bull

Behind Red Bull, the battle for podium positions has been intriguing in 2023, with different teams putting their hand up at different parts of the season.

In the early stages, it looked like Verstappen, Alonso and Perez would share the podium at almost every race in 2023, but the revival of Mercedes, McLaren and Ferrari has been notable and all three of these teams are just as likely, if not more likely, to be on the podium as Alonso's Aston Martin team.

Indeed, even Alpine have managed to claim two podiums (three if you include sprint races) and Alex Albon's Williams looks more and more capable of being able to jump up there as the races go by.

Alonso says he has no more reason to believe Aston Martin will be quick at Singapore than any other circuit, as it really is so tight with the teams mentioned above.

"I'm not sure, I think every week everything seems to change a bit. In the last two street circuits… in Monaco Alpine was very strong with (Esteban) Ocon third and in Baku Ferrari dominated with (Charles) Leclerc on pole. We'll see in Singapore."