Fernando Alonso said the Aston Martin F1 machine, which ran for the first time at the 2022 Abu Dhabi F1 test, was a “pleasant surprise”.
Two-time F1 world champion Fernando Alonso drove the 2022 Aston Martin AMR22 car during the first five hours of F1’s Abu Dhabi post-season test on Tuesday before officially joining the team in 2023.
Fernando Alonso has decided to leave the Alpine F1 team, returning in 2021 after a two-year sabbatical, to join Aston Martin on a multi-year deal in 2023.
Last year it was the power steering system that Fernando Alonso spent a lot of time tuning with the Alpine F1 team and struggled to get the right feel for the movement of the front tires.
Fernando Alonso therefore said that he was particularly wary of that part before his first run in the Aston Martin AMR22.
“In my first year with Alpine I had to do a lot of work on the steering assistance and feedback for almost five months, so there were some concerns about the steering feedback,” said Fernando Alonso.
“So we have been discussing some of our concerns over the last few weeks. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Aston Martin system was fine, and that there was no need to change too much.”
Fernando Alonso handed over the car to Lance Stroll for the final three hours after completing 97 laps in five hours, and was very excited to see how Stroll’s proposed changes to the steering settings would affect him.
Fernando Alonso also said it was “good” to be able to feel the difference in the characteristics of the car, and after a year with an Alpine, which was plagued by reliability issues, a Mercedes engine was installed in Abu Dhabi. He also praised Aston Martin for its reliability ” exceptional”.
“I was worried last night when they gave me the engine mileage,” said Alonso.
“I said the number was a bit high by my standards, but I did 97 laps without any problems, so it’s a great result.”
For Fernando Alonso, it was the first time he drove a car with a Mercedes engine in the V6 turbo hybrid era, but only when asked if he was right, he said it was a “different feeling” when asked if he was right. he smiled and shrugged.
However, Fernando Alonso says he found a “pleasant surprise on everything” in the new team’s 2022 car, which is far less competitive than the car he has driven all season.
Aston Martin finished seventh in the Constructors’ Championship, three places behind Alpine in fourth, but Alonso’s contract is aggressive and ambitious to become a challenging team in the coming years. It is part of a proposed scheme.
Fernando Alonso’s desire to make the most of this test was also shown by being the first driver to leave the pit and the first to meet the new team in the paddock on Monday.
The back-to-back nature of the test, which follows a Grand Prix weekend, was also something Fernando Alonso wanted to take advantage of.
“Obviously it would be very useful to have a direct comparison with two days ago, on the same circuit, under the same conditions,” said Alonso.
“It’s great because we’re discovering things. We can talk about balance and that’s something we’ll discuss within the team, but hopefully next year the car will be completely different.”
Fernando Alonso stressed that Aston Martin’s 2023 design was so different that the test was about adapting rather than judging the team’s 2022 car.
Fernando Alonso also wants to get used to the new way of working with Aston Martin, but he is mainly off the track, and on the track he adapts ‘almost’ quickly after the first run. It’s over,” he said.
Fernando Alonso identified a seat change as his top priority as he felt pain on his left side after many laps, but also dealt with various other details.
“From now on, I have to think in my head about everything I’ve discovered and other little things,” said Alonso.
“Most of them are comfort, not the balance itself or the behavior of the car really.”
“But we don’t know things like the tone of the gear shift, the pitlane, the dash message when you change the length of the message on the dashboard.”
“I’m very comfortable with one set-up and now I’m adjusting things to look more natural. Those kinds of things are probably the priority at the moment.”
Category: F1 / Fernando Alonso / aston martin
