Aston Martin reveals its 2023 Grand Prix challenger
We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info
Fernando Alonso has bitten back at Red Bull and Sergio Perez after the Mexican taunted his team at the Bahrain. Alonso switched from Alpine to Aston Martin for this season and marked his debut with an impressive third-place finish in Bahrain behind Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Perez.
After the race, Perez mocked his rival by referring to the similarity of their cars, he stated: “It’s nice to see three Red Bull guys on the podium.” His comments come after Aston Martin hired Red Bull engineer Dan Fallows and other employees to drastically improve the constructor’s car this winter.
Red Bull chief Helmut Marko also taunted Aston Martin with a similar criticism. He added: “If you compare the cars, the Aston Martin is most similar to our Red Bull. There’s a reason for that. Not only did Fallows change, but also some other employees and they obviously have a good memory.”
Last season, Aston Martin’s best finish was sixth and Alonso’s podium in Bahrain was the constructor’s first in their third year competing in F1. And now veteran driver Alonso, who won two world championships with Renault in 2005 and 2006, has hit back at Red Bull’s copying claims ahead of this weekend’s Saudi Arabia Grand Prix.
“I don’t care about the comments at all,” Alonso said. “I’m focused on my team, but you can clearly see at a glance that there are differences between the two cars. Visually they are different. An example of this is that Mercedes says that 50 percent of our car is theirs and Red Bull says that 50 percent of the car is theirs. But there can be no more different concepts than those two.
“That clearly indicates that neither of the two theories is true. We have a different concept than those two cars, although it is true that visually all the cars look a bit alike. The Ferrari, the Haas and the Alfa Romeo look very similar to each other.”
Don’t miss…
Hamilton’s foul-mouthed message from engineer as star looks to return [LATEST]
Brundle claims Hamilton will chat to dad about ‘doing a Schumacher’ [LATEST]
Ferrari face turmoil as chief ‘wants to quit’ due to CEO disagreement [LATEST]
Alonso admitted that engineer Fallows has had a huge impact in this year’s car but suggested the team were unsure if they could repeat the same pace in Jeddah this weekend. He told Sky Italia: “We had courage during the winter with our project. Dan Fallows was very determined.
“But we also need to stay calm because we’re curious to know if the same thing will happen here as happened in Bahrain. The fast corners and the straights were our weak points in Bahrain and it’s all about that here, so perhaps we will get a negative surprise.”
Source: Read Full Article
