Alonso: Aston the most confidence-inspiring project in my F1 career

The ex-Renault, Ferrari and McLaren grand prix driver secured his sixth podium of the 2023 campaign last weekend in Canada.

That haul after eight rounds is double the number of top-three results that the Spaniard achieved during his previous seven full-time seasons in F1.

Alonso finished second in Montreal, crossing the line 9.57 seconds behind dominant winner Max Verstappen. But he kept the chasing Lewis Hamilton out of DRS range in the final stint.

This, Alonso told Sky Sports, helped underline Aston Martin’s “most competitive race of the year”. He added that, “in terms of pace, we were matching Red Bull most of the race”.

These performances have made the 32-time GP winner and double Le Mans 24 Hours victor more confident in Aston Martin than he has been with any other project in his career.

The 41-year-old said of life at the team: “Everything is good. To be honest, I cannot think of another time in my career that I was this confident with a team and with a project itself.”

Despite the optimism, Alonso has yet to firm up his stance on whether he will still be driving for the team should it keep progressing and put itself into title contention. But he ideally wants to be in the seat if the time comes.

He continued: “Because it’s more into a medium-, long-term project, I don’t know if I will be driving.

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR23, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W14

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

“I always have in my mind that yes, because as long as I feel fast, and I still enjoy why will I stop? But at the moment, I’m enjoying.”

In the shorter-term, Alonso continues to target a race win in 2023, as he believes in Aston Martin’s ability to develop the AMR23.

He said: “I think there is more to come. I want to win a race this year… the car is going in the right direction so more opportunities will come.”

Aston team principal Mike Krack reckoned that missing out on the fight with Verstappen for victory in Canada was “not at all” frustrating.

He continued: “It's challenging because we have a car with a driver that wants to do that, and we are not far from doing it.

“So, it's always very motivational and we need to fight hard to close the gap as much as we can for the next races.”