Jolyon Palmer believes that Aston Martin's remarkable level of performance could see Fernando Alonso finally break his "long win draught" in Formula 1.
Aston's new-spec AMR23 has caught the attention of the sport's front-runners since the start of the season, and especially after last weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix which Alonso finished third.
The remarkable result confirmed Team Silverstone's rising power first noted in pre-season testing and the emergence of its package as a genuine top-three contender.
"Fernando Alonso has been waiting a decade for a car that he can compete with at the sharp end of Formula 1, and finally in 2023 it seems he has one," wrote Palmer in his post-race column for Formula1.com.
"The Aston Martin looked hooked up from the word go in pre-season.
"It took a while for Fernando to emerge in the car, but from the very first lap I saw, he looked comfortable and was hustling on, visibly more than most others out there.
"By the time we got to the race weekend, there was a palpable air of excitement for Aston Martin from the neutrals in the paddock, and a fear of them from their competitors, exaggerated by their practice-topping times.
"While qualifying still shows that there is an outright pace deficit to the Red Bulls and even the Ferraris, the race-pace is what had stood out more in testing, and we saw that come to fruition on Sunday."
Read also:
Alonso was luckily spared a dramatic Aston implosion at the start when he was inadvertently tagged by teammate Lance Stroll at Bahrain's Turn 4 and dropped from fifth to seventh.
Thereafter, the Spaniard made up the lost ground as the field's pit-stop rotations set-in, including hid own. The 41-year-old also benefitted from Charles Leclerc's retirement but came out on top from fierce battles with Hamilton and Ferrari's Carlos Sainz to claim the final spot on the podium.
"Had Fernando not been hit by his team-mate Lance Stroll on the opening lap, things might have played out more routinely for the Spaniard," reckoned Palmer.
"As it was, it was fantastic for us that he did lose places to the Mercedes, because it was the catalyst for a spectacular charge towards a podium that surely would have been comfortable without the collision.
"Whenever I was racing with Alonso wheel-to-wheel, he was always a different competitor compared to others I was up against.
"He has an incredible ability to read racing situations, has immense peripheral vision, and he can think a few corners ahead when trying to plan out a clinical overtake.
"Even at 41, those are exactly the qualities he displayed on Sunday."
After the Bahrain Grand Prix, Alonso felt that Aston Martin's pace was "real", but he nevertheless suggested waiting another couple of races before confirming the AMR23's level of performance.
Palmer however has backed Alonso to pull off a win – his first since the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona in 2013 – at some point this season.
"Aston Martin have given themselves a wonderful baseline for the year, and with considerably more development time than their front-running rivals, you have to believe that this could be the year Alonso breaks his long win draught," concluded the Briton.
Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter
