Fernando Alonso says getting close to Red Bull will be difficult in F1 2023, but Aston Martin’s main goal is to be ahead of Ferrari and Mercedes.
Considering the advantage that Red Bull has on others to start the F1 2023 season, Alonso reckons it will be difficult to get close to them this year barring few races where the RB19 maybe slightly weak in those particular grand prix events.
With five races done, there is already a gap of 122 points between Red Bull and Aston Martin, while the latter is only six points ahead of Mercedes and 24 ahead of Ferrari. The battle for second is certainly a close one, which Alonso reckons is key for them.
Even though they hope to be close to Red Bull at odd events, their main aim is to be ahead of Mercedes and Ferrari. “I think the year is going to be difficult [to catch Red Bull],” said Alonso. “The gap is quite big even though I think Miami was our best race pace yet in the season.
“We finished, I think, closest to the leaders [with] no safety cars, nothing in the race and we’re still quite fast. So let’s see. I think the season is going to be long. Hopefully some of the tracks we will be a little bit closer to them. And some of the upgrades that we will bring later in the season maybe put us in a different or more competitive position.
“But I think our main focus, to be honest, is just looking behind and trying to keep Mercedes and Ferrari in the Constructors’ Championship under control. But I think Red Bull, we have to accept they are doing a better job than everyone else and we need to do a better job,” summed up Alonso.
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