It took 10 years for Fernando Alonso to finish a World Cup in the top five. However, in light of the data, it can well be concluded that the wait has been worth it. Because the Aston Martin leader, as he himself admitted in the Yas Marina mixed zone, has performed at the level of 2012, his best season with Ferrari. These are some of the figures that condense the World Cup of the two-time champion, whose teaching only paled before the insulting hegemony of Max Verstappen.
A loot of 73.2%
During his two years at Alpine, he had only narrowly surpassed Esteban Ocon (19-18), a driver as controversial as he was tough to crack.. And although the head-to-head race against Lance Stroll seemed easier, Alonso settled it (18-4) with the rawness of his best days against Giancarlo Fisichella (28-6), Nelsinho Piquet (21-5), Kimi Raikkonen (16-3) or Felipe Massa (65-12). Despite its weight, this digit can still be interpreted in a more resounding way.. And Alonso has added 206 of Aston Martin's 280 points. That is, 73.5% of the total. An average higher than that of Max Verstappen at Red Bull (66.8%) and Lando Norris at McLaren (67.8%).
Give way 39 times
The overtake against Yuki Tsunoda, with three laps to go, earned him fourth place in the World Championship. Before, in Yas Marina he had already passed Valtteri Bottas, Esteban Ocon and Carlos Sainz. In this way, Alonso closed the championship with 71 successful maneuvers, a considerable figure, although lower than that of Sergio Pérez, George Russell or Lewis Hamilton. And to better appreciate Alonso's expertise, it is better to interpret it in reverse.. Because if we exclude overtaking on the first lap, on the starts, in the pit-lane and with laps, the Oviedo driver was only overtaken 39 times on the track.. The third lowest figure on the grid, only behind the Red Bulls. The case of Verstappen, passed only five times (four in Singapore and one in Las Vegas) would deserve a separate chapter.
Eight podiums and 106 in total
The epic resistance against Pérez in Interlagos served to equal Alain Prost as the fourth driver with the most podium finishes in history (106). As much or more merit had to be attributed to what was seen in Zandvoort, in very delicate conditions and on board an AMR-23 that had already lost the spring thrust. Because if during the opening event, Alonso's average race pace was third on the grid (68 hundredths before Verstappen), in Silverstone he fell to ninth position (90 hundredths) and in Mexico he plummeted to last (2.39 seconds of loss). The eight baths in champagne, compared to seven for Norris or six for Hamilton and Leclerc, only clashed with Red Bull's records.
42 years, three months and 28 days
In Yas Marina, Alonso closed his sixteenth season in the Great Circus at 42 years, three months and 28 days. A more than respectable figure, if we consider that the average age on the grid was reduced to 28.2 years.. Far from exhaustion, the Aston Martin leader performed without a single complaint on Sundays as suffocating as those in Marina Bay, Monza or Losail. His longevity has allowed him to surpass two champions of the stature of Nigel Mansell and Kimi Raikkonen and when the 2024 World Cup starts he will have overtaken Mario Andretti. If he achieves the long-awaited 33rd victory, he will become the oldest driver to reach the top of the podium after Jack Brabham, winner of the 1970 South African GP at the age of 43 years, 11 months and five days..
19-3 in one round
Fernando's regularity on Saturdays has weighed much more than Stroll's outbursts of inspiration. While the owner's son was eliminated seven times in Q1 and eight in Q2, the Asturian only missed Q3 on two occasions.. The final balance of the classifications (19-3, with an average difference of 47 hundredths) does not deserve many more comments. Alonso was responsible for bringing Aston Martin closer to the positions of honor on the grid. If in 2022 the difference with the pole was 1.9 seconds, this year that gap was reduced to 74 hundredths. It's a shame that that fabulous Monaco lap was polished in extremis by Verstappen. Therefore, the candy of pole was missing, like for Piastri, Russell and Norris, the other three opponents who climbed to the front row. To close this chapter, it is enough to highlight that Alonso also beat Pérez's Red Bull on Saturdays (13-9).
36 km/h less in Las Vegas
The slowness on the straights represented a headache from the beginning of the season. In Jeddah, a track already famous for its dizzying straights, Aston Martin was the penultimate team on the grid, with a maximum of 328 km/h, far from Red Bull's 342 km/h. Halfway through the course, during the Italian GP, the AMR-23 seemed to regain some vigor, with a maximum of 351 km/h, the fourth best record. However, in Las Vegas, the last route with huge straights, the green car, with 330 km/h, only surpassed Alfa Romeo and AlphaTauri. That weekend, with the most extreme aerodynamic configurations, Carlos Sainz was able to reach 366 km/h.
12 points on the license
Despite the sad episode in Jeddah, with that round-trip podium to the greater derision of the stewards, Alonso closed the World Cup with 12 points intact in the super license. A fact that, far from being anecdotal, reveals his deep knowledge of the regulations and his great neatness in extreme situations.. On the other side of the spectrum it is worth mentioning Hamilton, who lost four points for causing collisions in Spa and Monza, or Pérez, with seven points less, after his mishaps in Singapore, Japan (two) and Abu Dhabi. Among the favorites, only Leclerc finished the World Cup with such a neat disciplinary balance.
53.3% of votes in Bahrain
Since his thunderous emergence in Sakhir on March 5, Alonso has emerged as one of the fans' favorites.. Proof of this were the two Driver of the Day awards, in the Bahrain GP, with 53.3% of the votes (the highest percentage of the year) and the Netherlands GP, with 20.9%. This background could well have increased in Monaco, where recognition went to Ocon, or Canada, with an award for Alex Albon. After 22 races, Alonso entered the top-5 of those most valued by the public 10 times.