Fernando Alonso says he and Aston Martin “have to accept” that no more than the second place he got at the 2023 Monaco GP was possible, as they had “no chance” against the very strong pace of Max Verstappen and Red Bull in all conditions. The Spaniard also outlined how he was worried about crashing out of the race amid the risks posed by a late rain shower around the streets of Monte Carlo.
Photo Credit: Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team
Alonso started the race on the hard compound tyre, which did not give the Spaniard the best grip off the start line, but allowed him to start to creep back towards Max Verstappen once the Dutchman’s medium tyres started to grain up.
Speaking after the race, Alonso explained the team made the decision to start on a harder compound thinking about the long game, given the short run to Saint Devote wouldn’t present much overtaking opportunities even if he was on the softer tyres.
“It was difficult,” he said. “Also, we opted to start on the hard tyres, so we gave up a little bit of possibility into turn one. Due to the short run [down to the first corner], we thought to play a long game with the strategy.
“Max [Verstappen] drove super well on the medium tyres in that first stint, so we didn’t have any chance.
“We didn’t have a chance, obviously Max was quicker than us right from the beginning until the end, so we have to accept that second was the best place for us today.”
The switch between slicks and intermediates wasn’t very straightforward for him though. The two-time world champion stopped for the medium compound tyres, just to go out on track and find the rain getting heavier and making the track unsuitable for slicks. When asked about it after the race, Alonso said he “could” have jumped Verstappen had he gone to the intermediates on his first stop, but says the risk wasn’t worth given his already good second place:
“The race was not easy to execute, especially when the rain hit us,” he said. “We were considering stopping for inters or for dry tyres, we did double stop there so it was a little bit confusing. Luckily we didn’t lose any positions, but it was not an easy afternoon.
“Obviously it depends on the out laps of myself and Max, and things like that. It is always easy to say afterwards.
“Especially when you are in a podium position, to gamble too much feels wrong, when you are at the back it’s easier, and we wanted to secure second place as well.”
The Spaniard, who is the most experienced driver on field, admitted he was “worried” of losing control of his Aston Martin in the very difficult conditions presented by the late rain, and admitted he was “surprised” that despite all the chaos, there wasn’t a major incident that necessitated the safety car:
“I was thinking ‘not today’,” he said when asked of his feelings when he had to cope with rain and mixed conditions. “Fighting for a few points last year, I was just praying for some rain or some action, but when you are in P2, comfortably in P2 or P1, you don’t want any action.
“When the rain came, I was very worried to crash and lose everything, so I was driving very carefully. But even with that extra care, some risks were quite high, so it was not an easy race.
“No full power around the lap, braking was extremely fragile into turn five and into turn ten, it was not easy.
“I was surprised that there was no safety car and no [major] incidents, so I think everyone was doing an amazing job today to keep the cars on track.”
With today’s strong result for Alonso, Aston Martin still keeps hold of the second place in the constructors’ championship with 120 points – one more than direct rivals Mercedes.
