Aston praised by rivals but Alonso not expecting podium

F1's front-runners see Aston Martin "fighting at the front" from the outset this season, but Fernando Alonso has played down the prospect of a podium in Bahrain.

Alonso, who conducted all of Aston's pre-season testing in Bahrain on his own - save for two half-days when reserve driver Felipe Drugovich was on duty - was singled out by pundits as a force to be reckoned with at the wheel of Team Silverstone's AMR23.

And it was especially the Spaniard's race simulation, conducted at a brisk pace on the last day of testing, that caught everyone's attention.

"Definitely they have a strong car," commented Red Bull's Sergio Perez on Thursday in Bahrain. "They definitely will be fighting at the front."

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton was equally impressed by Aston's form.

"I'm really happy to see that Aston have taken such a step forward," said the Mercedes driver.

"It's difficult [to see the true pecking order]. Through all the data we have, you don't know what fuel loads people were on and all these different things. So, it's a bit all over the place.

"But it looks like they're very strong. And they could be fighting right at the front. I've always hoped that there's going to be more than just two teams or more than three teams in the mix.

"So, I think you're seeing that finally, which is a positive."

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Ferrari's Charles Leclerc also anticipated Aston being "in the mix", while Max Verstappen took note of Alonso's body language.

"I'm very curious to see what Aston Martin can do this year," said the Dutchman.

"I find it very difficult to estimate exactly where they will be, but when I talk to Fernando and look at Fernando's face, he seems pretty optimistic."

However, for all the hype bestowed upon Aston Martin, Alonso himself cooled down suggestions that his team will be fighting amongst F1's usual suspects at the head of the field.

"We will give our best in the race," he said. "That [a podium finish] is not the target for us, to be honest.

"I think we need to keep learning about the car, only one day and a half or two days of testing on a completely new car, new package.

"And I think the top three teams, they were in another league last year; they were lapping sometimes even the fourth [fastest] team.

"And basically, you know, only seven cars finish on the same lap. So, we cannot make that kind of step only in one winter. I think we are very happy with the car.

"But I think we have to have the feet in the ground and keep working on this good baseline."

Alonso said that he'll wait a few races before assessing the relative performance of Aston's new-spec car.

"You never know what the others are doing, so basically you concentrate on your programme,” he said.

"And let’s see after this race, basically after Jeddah or Australia, I think very different circuits, where I think you will see more where everybody is.

"But yeah, I think we aimed to make a step forward compared to last year.

"Obviously, Aston Martin went through some difficulties with the car and some things that they discovered throughout 2022, so I think this year we have a better baseline, and we are happy so far."

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