Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso forward of the Grand Prix
| Photo Credit: Reuters
Max Verstappen could begin as favourite, but Fernando Alonso can have widespread in style assist this weekend when this 12 months’s Formula One season resumes on the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
After his dashing and shocking podium end behind the 2 Red Bulls on the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix two weeks in the past, the 41-year-old Spaniard has performed down excessive expectations of a repeat in his smooth new Aston Martin.
But he is aware of that the high-speed Jeddah Street Circuit, a skinny hair-clip of asphalt squeezed above a lagoon on the corniche, 12 kilometres north of town, provides a really totally different problem to man and machine.
“I think that we found, in Bahrain, that we were strong in things that maybe we won’t have in Jeddah, or in Melbourne,” he defined.
“So, if we are strong again, in these two races, I think we are going to have a very good year.
“I’m interested in these races – very totally different circuits, with high-speed corners and really low degradation. It’s going to be very totally different.”
After his commanding victory in Bahrain, ahead of Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez, defending world champion Verstappen will be the man to beat with Aston Martin, Ferrari and Mercedes in hot pursuit.
Perez, who finished fourth last year after starting from pole position, will seek to prove he is more than the supporting cast to the Dutchman’s starring role on the kind of track that usually suits his style.
“I used to be unfortunate final 12 months, with the timing of a security automobile,” he said. “It will probably be fascinating this time.”
Ferrari, under new management and enthused by fresh hope, will also want to make a statement at a circuit where they finished second and third last season, but will start on the back foot with Charles Leclerc taking a 10-place grid penalty for taking a new electronic control unit.
After a disappointing, if not desultory, display at the season-opener, Mercedes, similarly, require a much-improved showing to lift morale.
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton and George Russell struggled for pace in Bahrain and are likely to suffer a similar fate on Sunday.
“We have a couple of small developments for the automobile,” said team boss Toto Wolff. “Not game-changers, but they may transfer us in the fitting route.”
If Mercedes slump again – they won eight successive constructors’ titles before Red Bull took their crown last year — it could lead to a radical re-think and the end for their much-criticised W14 car.
That once-unthinkable prospect will be brought forward notably if the factory team is out-raced again by their Silverstone-based customer outfit Aston Martin.
“I feel the automobile now we have now could be only a very fundamental one, a very new idea launched for this season,” said Alonso.
“So, I consider now we have much more to come back in phrases of growth — and I’m optimistic.”
Verstappen has recognised the strong threat from rival teams to his title defence, but believes his Red Bull package has the blend of high-speed handling characteristics and pure power to triumph again.
“We have a robust automobile for this observe, but I do not anticipate it to be simple,” said the 25-year-old Dutchman, who praised several modifications made to the circuit after complaints about the danger of poor visibility at certain corners last year.
“The adjustments have improved issues, hopefully,” he added. “It was undoubtedly harmful in some areas for the drivers.”
