Alonso's bitter anniversary at the Hungaroring: a "horrible" format and disagreements over Pirelli's changes
The conditions of the track, both due to the heat of the asphalt and the twisting of its curves, seemed favorable for Aston Martin. And the illusion of Fernando Alonso, besieged since Thursday by the press, was still intact, not only because of the search for the 33rd victory, but because of a happy coincidence. At the Hungaroring, 20 years ago, the Asturian had secured his first victory in F1, which made him, at that time, the youngest winner in history. However, so many good omens were made yesterday ashes. “We are not fast enough to think about the podium, so we will have to grit our teeth during the race,” admitted the two-time world champion after his eighth place on the grid.
The rictus of Mike Krack, impassive before the monitors, nothing resembled yesterday that of Flavio Briatore in 2003, with his nerves on edge while he lit a cigarette on the sly on the wall. The Aston Martin main team analyzed every data from a qualifying session in which McLaren and Alfa Romeo had improved the performance of their AMR23. Although Alonso only gave up four tenths of a second to Lewis Hamilton, who took pole position, the regression of his car against the emerging adversaries was more evident than ever.
Another episode of the eternal love and hate story of the Asturian at the Hungaroring, where yesterday the controversial qualifying format was released, which forces the alternation of tires: hard in Q1, medium in Q2 and soft in Q3. This measure, with which the FIA intends to save 160 games per race and 3,840 over a season, has outraged Alonso, who yesterday did not hesitate to describe it as “horrible”. “What people want to see are drivers trying to go as fast as possible and progressing during the sessions,” added the double 24 Hours of Le Mans winner.. Something like what he himself exhibited at the Hungaroring on August 24, 2003.
regulatory licenses
Seen from today's perspective, that Renault strategy would be a simple draft compared to the intricate calculations of Aston Martin. In any case, Alonso's driving, less cerebral and more relentless, was better suited to those pure sprint races.. So the only order from the engineers was a no-nonsense attack from the start.. After the first lap, the leader already enjoyed a 1.96-second advantage over Mark Webber, a milestone that even today Max Verstappen would not feel capable of..
On the third lap, Alonso smashed the clocks, with a time four seconds faster than that of his immediate pursuer. That Sunday, only five rivals would finish on the same lap and even Michael Schumacher had to swallow the insult of seeing himself doubled with nine laps to go.
That F1 at that time presented those anomalies was due, in part, to the regulatory licenses by which a team released a car, almost entirely, in the middle of the season. That was the case of the Renault R23B, presented to the public just a month earlier at Silverstone. The car, the work of Mike Gascoyne, technical director, Tim Densham, chief designer, and Bob Iley, head of aerodynamics, stood out for its evolutions in the chassis, the floor and the diffuser.
Alonso, at the controls of the AMR23 at the Hungaroring.
The engine, an RS23 V10 fresh from the Viry-Chatillon factory, could develop enormous potential, although it was flawed.. In fact, minutes before the long-awaited checkered flag fell, Alonso admitted hearing all kinds of strange noises under the hood.. Before closing the season, that lack of reliability came to light with two breaks in the US GP and the Japanese GP. The Briatore staff, led by Bob Bell and Mark Smith, had no choice but to do without their engine for 2004.
Today, paradoxically, Aston Martin faces a totally different horizon.. Since the beginning of the championship, the British team has been one of those that has introduced the fewest improvements to its car and its performance director, Tom McCullough, has already confirmed that there will be no more evolutions until the Dutch GP, the last weekend of August..
The precedent of 2013
This factor is even more pressing against Alfa Romeo or McLaren, who have better adapted their designs to the new tire specification, released 15 days ago at Silverstone. These brand new Pirelli, with a stronger structure, cause less degradation.
Because this case bears too many similarities with what happened in 2013, when Red Bull and Mercedes pushed for another swap in the compounds. After the pertinent approval of the FIA, Sebastian Vettel neutralized the disadvantage that he then had with Alonso to prevail in 10 of the 11 races. So today Aston Martin is almost as affected by the regulations as Red Bull, which at the Hungaroring has not even been able to lead any of the training sessions, with Sergio Pérez sweating to sneak into the top 10. “It is not nice to change the height of the basket ring in the middle of a championship,” Alonso settled yesterday.