JANUARY 13, 2024

Top Ten of 2023 - Second - Fernando Alonso

Fernando Alonso

By Luis Vasconcelos

After eight years fighting with uncompetitive machinery – before and after his two-years sabatical – Fernando Alonso finally got his hands on a quick and reliable car and results came instantly, showing the veteran hadn’t lost any of his competitive edge, amazing race craft and ability to read the races, traits that still stand him apart from most of his rivals.

Unchallenged inside Aston Martin – always the situation that brings out the best in Alonso – the Spaniard was the main star of the first half of the season, with six podium finishes out of the first eight Grand Prix and feeling Monaco had been a missed an opportunity to return to the winners’ circle as the team went conservative with the tyre strategy when the rain started to come down hard. As Aston Martin couldn’t keep up with the development pace of the other top teams, Alonso’s results suffered but he still had it in him to score another two podium finishes, making the most out of the conditions in Zandvoort and pulling a massive move on Pérez, on the final lap, to finish third in Brazil.