Stroll's absence "did a lot of harm" to Aston Martin, says Alonso

Fernando Alonso was not idle during these three days of winter testing in Bahrain. The two-time world champion was the most active on track at the Sakhir circuit, having completed the most laps of any driver on the grid with 270 laps. Above all, the Spaniard had to complete more programs than expected, to compensate for the absence of Lance stroll, injured in the wrist and absent in Bahrain.

An absence that “did a lot of harm” at the British team according to Alonso at the microphone of F1 TV. “I think we missed him. You never know if some of my comments, my feelings with the car, come from me being in a new team or maybe it's just aAston Martin, which Lance [Stroll] was able to spot. The feel of the brake pedal, the power steering, all those things, I don't know if it's a legacy of the team or if it's just new to this car. So no, we can't do it without him, I hope he can come very soon. »

“There is much more to come” according to Alonso

Despite the absence of his new teammate and friend Lance Stroll, Fernando Alonso declared that the first runs with the AMR23 were entirely positive. The Spaniard particularly impressed in his long stints, while Aston Martin is positioning itself as a serious team to compete for 4th place among the manufacturers... if not better. Something to rejoice the Bull of Asturias, who highlighted that “[the team feels] that there is a lot more to come from the car, which [it has] not yet had time [to extract] in testing. »

Only concern for the Spanish driver: “optimize the package” on the first races of the season. “The car felt good all three days. We experimented a bit with very different roads on the settings. And we have always found positives on these new roads. So there is a clear indication that we have to change philosophy in a lot of things on this car compared to last year. »

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