Fernando Alonso DISMISSES McLaren and Williams progress

Alonso, Aston Martin, Oostenrijk, — Photo: © LAT Images

Fernando Alonso

Alonso DISMISSES McLaren and Williams progress

The Spaniard has work to do to reach the podium at the British Grand Prix

Joe Ellis

Monday 10 July 2023 17:57

Fernando Alonso has dismissed the progress made by McLaren and Williams at the British Grand Prix.

McLaren was the story of qualifying with Lando Norris second and Oscar Piastri third behind Max Verstappen while Williams reached Q3 courtesy of Alex Albon and looked rapid in practice.

Logan Sargeant even looked to be getting along with his car for the first time as he reached Q2 in tricky conditions.

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Alonso, though, is not convinced they have made steps forward, insisting that it is purely track specific and the championship will tell the tale come the end of the season.

Lando Norris will join his good friend Max Verstappen on the front row at Silverstone

The ups and downs

"Yes, today McLaren has gone fast. But you also have to see last year, many patterns repeat," Alonso said to DAZN. "I think Williams came out in Q3, in Monza they also did very well. This year in Monza they will also go well again."

"And McLaren had ups and downs last year, but here at Silverstone, they were also very good. So we'll do the math in Abu Dhabi.

"If not, every Saturday is going we would be going crazy about which circuits are good for one and which for others"

Alonso: No risk, no reward

Alonso starts the British GP in ninth in his Aston Martin, behind Albon in eighth but the two-time world champion maintains that he can make a comeback in the race.

"Well, no risk, no reward," he added. "We went all in with new soft tires for Q3. We haven't been very fast all weekend and in the end, we finished ninth in Q3. But I think the strategy has been the right one, risk in Q1 and have those tires"

"Both in Barcelona, Austria and here it seems that in the fast corners we suffer a little more, but the race is on Sunday and Sundays are usually our strongest point of the weekend. Let's see if we can make a comeback"