While test results should always be taken with a grain of salt, one of the surprises of the 3-day Bahrain was definitely theAston Martin. The new purchase of the house in Silverstone, Fernando Alonso, he seemed really comfortable with the new one AMR23.
The strong point that caught the eye is the race pace, in which the pilot from Oviedo seemed faster than Sainz. As Alonso himself declares: “On the last day we did a race simulation, which will be 57 laps. So we fueled for 57 laps and did the whole race, changing tires and everything. At the same time, Ferrari was following the same programme, and she also had the fuel for the race, doing 57 laps: we were a little faster".
Data in hand, however, we find that Sainz did not follow the same schedule of Alonso, but he did decidedly shorter stints which therefore cannot be part of a real race pace simulation. What is undoubtedly true, however, is that the Aston Martin has no tire degradation. On the contrary, the more laps went by, the more Alonso improved his times.
The tests must not deceive: Red Bull, Ferrari and probably even Mercedes are ahead of Aston Martin. That said, after a seventh-place finish in the constructors four months ago, going into the first race of the year as the supposed fourth force is a giant step forward. And who knows if the wizard of Oviedo will pull the rabbit out of the hat as usual.
SOURCE STATEMENTS: FormulaPassion
