Aston Martin showcased a remarkable performance during Saturday’s qualifying session for the Hungarian Grand Prix, with Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll securing fifth and sixth respectively on Sunday’s grid.
For Alonso, the result marked a joint-best qualifying of the season, while Stroll achieved his highest grid slot of the year – offering a much-needed lift for the Silverstone-based squad ahead of the summer break.
But despite the promising result, Alonso was quick to downplay suggestions of a performance breakthrough, pointing instead to the circuit itself as the key variable.
“I would say that it's track characteristics, to be honest,” Alonso explained. “I think we didn't change the car massively since Spa seven days ago. No new parts for anybody to this race.
Just the layout, the characteristics of the circuit is just suiting our car, apparently, and it would be nice to understand this, why the car is operating in this sweet spot here because if we understand that, we can use it in the next few races.”
Cautious Optimism Ahead of Race Day
The veteran Spaniard acknowledged that while Aston Martin's one-lap pace looked strong at the Hungaroring, the real test will come during Sunday’s race.
Alonso admitted that a podium finish would be a stretch under current conditions, and emphasized the importance of simply consolidating their starting positions.
©AstonMartin
“I think [a podium is] going to be difficult, to be honest,” he said. “I would like if we can finish in the same positions as we start. Fifth and sixth will be lovely in terms of points for the team before summer break and that will be the first target.”
While the two-time world champion isn’t ruling out the possibility of climbing a position or two, he’s wary of the looming threats behind – particularly from drivers like Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, both of whom will start outside the top six but are expected to charge through the field.
“If we can recover any place it will be good but I think we need to understand as well that there are some threats from behind, some fast cars, Max is starting behind, Lewis as well, so it's not going to be easy.”
With the notoriously tight and twisty Hungaroring making overtaking difficult, Aston Martin has a real chance to deliver a double-points finish – and perhaps even more – if the team can manage the race as effectively as it handled qualifying.
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