Fernando Alonso hails Monaco 2023 as his best F1 race, emphasizing unparalleled preparation despite his car’s limitations.
Fernando Alonso considers the Monaco Grand Prix, where he finished second for Aston Martin F1, to be his best race since returning to Formula 1. The two-time world champion recalls his anticipation for the Monaco race from the start of the season.
“I would say Monaco 2023, because I think we began the 2023 season knowing that the strengths of our car were low-speed corners, traction, and braking,” Alonso said on the Beyond the Grid podcast.
“From Bahrain or Jeddah, I told the team, ‘Don’t touch the car too much until Monaco. Whatever upgrades are coming, let’s try to wait until after Monaco. I don’t want to change the characteristics and DNA of this car before the Monaco race.'”
“The first upgrade was scheduled for Canada, which was after Monaco, so there was no risk. But little by little, in the first two races, we lost some of the car’s character and strengths.”
“We went to Miami, and our weakest sector was the low-speed sector. In Barcelona, our weakest sector was also low-speed. For one reason or another, the car’s strong points from the first races had faded a bit.”
“When we got to Monaco, I was very focused on this race. I wanted to win this race. The Red Bull was a perfect machine, but Monaco is unique, so my biggest hope was to win there.”
The Spaniard confirms that he had never prepared so much for a race: “From Wednesday, the preparation for Monaco was the most detailed and precise I’ve ever done in a single weekend. Every bump on the track, every piece of data Aston had from 2022, from 2021, and reviewing past races.”
“There were a lot of details for that race, and I don’t think the car was great, but we managed to put it within 20 milliseconds of pole position thanks to an incredible final sector from Max [Verstappen]. Then, in the race again, we weren’t great.”
“I think when it started raining, we were 23 seconds behind Max, so I was losing a lot of ground. We weren’t fast enough, but once again, we were close to victory if we had switched to another set of intermediate tires instead of mediums.”
“I think there was a lot of effort to get close to a race win, so I say Monaco because I love that level of preparation and that level of performance, even when the car wasn’t at its best.”
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Unmatched Focus: Alonso’s Best F1 Race Since Comeback Unmatched Focus: Alonso’s Best F1 Race Since Comeback
