Fernando Alonso He started the day at the Albert Park circuit with some setbacks, clearing the wall by millimeters in an intense first morning free session. In the afternoon, the Asturian driver climbed to fifth position, preceded by his teammate Lance Stroll already half a second of Leclerc (Ferrari), who led the opening day of the Australian Grand Prix. The Aston Martin car, which has a new front wing, has made a good impression ahead of this Saturday’s qualifying, which will be key to Alonso’s aspirations in the third race of the season.
“It is always satisfying to be at the top of the time table, but we will not draw any conclusions from today because they are only free training and there are still many variables to consider. We have a lot of data to analyze to have the best chance of obtaining a positive result in qualifying,” commented Fernando, very cautiously, after getting off his AMR24.
“It’s always complicated at Albert Park: there are always traps here. The rubber on the track gets quite hard and the grip changes. That led to me going through the gravel at Turn 10 during FP1, so we had to change the floor during the first session. Our program was a little compromised because of thatbut Free Practice 2 went without problems and we completed everything we set out to do,” Alonso explained about his morning incident.
“We have been quite strong in the one-lap pace this season, so it is positive to see that we have maintained it here. But let’s keep our feet on the ground,” warned the Asturian driver, who opened the season in Bahrain with a disappointing ninth place and fifth car on the grid, but improved significantly in Arabia, finishing in the top five. It remains to be seen if with the improvements for Australia, Sunday’s race can be a turning point.
