Alonso has 'no idea' about Aston Martin's place in Jeddah pecking order

It is no longer a surprise to find Fernando Alonso at the top of the timesheet. The Spaniard entered the top 3 in the first two Free Practice sessions in Jeddah (3rd in FP1, 2nd in FP2). L'Aston Martin AMR23 seems as comfortable and fast on the Corniche circuit as he did two weeks ago in Bahrain.

The Bull of Asturias was the only one to tickle both Red Bull during the first tests in Saudi Arabia. Enough to play for pole position? " We'll see, replied Fernando Alonso after FP2. I think Friday is not always very representative. In Bahrain too, we were good: first on Friday, then fifth – almost sixth – in qualifying. You never know until you qualify. »

“The balance is not yet ideal” says Alonso

The double world champion prefers to calm things down, he who is chasing a first pole position since the 2012 German Grand Prix. “We tested what we wanted to test in the car. I think the balance is not ideal yet, so we still need to look for some grip. But so far so good, it's another good start. » 

Asked about Aston Martin's position this weekend on the Saudi track, Alonso prefers to kick in touch. " I've no idea. I'm just driving the car and seeing where I am in qualifying. Obviously there's a lot of free practice, days between races, a lot of data to analyze, and a lot of predictions and estimates for [the media], so that's also the beauty of the Formula 1 »

According to the latest data collected after EL2, Aston Martin appears to have the 3rd best car in the field in terms of race pace, around 6 tenths behind Red Bull and 3 tenths behind Ferrari. The Spaniard will have the top 3 in his sights in Jeddah and intends to take advantage of Leclerc's penalty to secure a second consecutive podium. 

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