Fernando Alonso urges Aston Martin to ‘speed up’ upgrades in order to compete with Mercedes and Ferrari

Fernando Alonso has made a brilliant start to the season, claiming five podiums in his first six races for Aston Martin; the Spaniard is concerned that his team may not be ready to match the development of their rivals; watch the Spanish GP live on Sky Sports this weekend

Fernando Alonso has urged Aston Martin to “speed up” their in-season development in order to keep pace with their rivals at the front of the Formula 1 grid.

Aston Martin have been the surprise package of the 2023 season, sitting second in the constructors’ championship after six races, having finished seventh in 2022.

While Red Bull have made a dominant start to the campaign, winning every race, Aston Martin appear closely matched with Mercedes and Ferrari, but the latter duo are expecting to benefit from major upgrades at this weekend’s Spanish Grand prix.

Aston Martin are also bringing updates, but Alonso has expressed concern over whether his team can continue to match the established front-runners

“We have some new parts. I’m not sure exactly what, you will see it on the documents that the FIA is releasing (on Friday),” Alonso said on Thursday.

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Sky Sports F1’s David Croft believes Alonso is in a better place now and can be competitive for the next five years.

“I think front wing, there is some modification there, and we’re bringing always new parts to the car. Some of them are just circuit-specific, sometimes it’s just an improvement in lap time.

“I’m happy with how we are approaching every race, there is something always new on our car, try to keep up the pace with the top teams.

“I think we’re still growing in that area of the team, we found ourselves in a very competitive place this year, that we didn’t expect, so I think we still need to speed up things.

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Rachel Brookes shares her most memorable moments from the Spanish Grand Prix ahead of this weekend’s race in Barcelona.

“I think Ferrari is already two floors into this season, Mercedes obviously with a completely new car in Monaco and more upgrades here, Red Bull – Baku package and another one here.

“So we understand that we are not in that position yet, but we stay humble, we stay delivering the job on Sundays and try to score more points than them.”

Alonso: Support motivates me to ‘deliver something extra’

Alonso’s stunning start to the season, which peaked with a second-place finish in Monaco last weekend to secure his fifth podium in six races, has resulted in a resurgence in the two-time world champion’s popularity.

The Spaniard claimed back-to-back titles in 2005 and 2006 for Renault, but had been absent from the sharp end of the grid since leaving Ferrari in 2014, with his last win coming more than 10 years ago at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

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Following his brilliant start to the season, look back at Alonso’s last race win, at the Spanish Grand Prix back in 2013.

Alonso, who turns 42 in July, has remained a hugely popular figure at his home race, but admits the atmosphere this week is reminiscent of when he was competing for victories earlier in his career.

“Probably, yes – there is more expectation this year coming from the fans,” Alonso said.

“There is always a lot of good energy in Barcelona for me, and they’ve always been there with the good results or bad results, and I’ve always had a lot of support.

“I understand this, and I like this motivation to deliver something extra.

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Ahead of this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix we take a look back at some of the most dramatic moments from previous races at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

“The circuit and this Grand Prix has always been very generous to me in terms of results, I’ve been always performing well here, so hopefully we can have a good weekend.

“Tomorrow (Friday) is going to be important, the practice, because we come from three street circuits.

“We were not able to really test many things on the car for a few Grands Prix now, and tomorrow is going to be a good test session for everyone.”

Sky Sports F1’s live Spanish GP schedule

Friday June 2
8.50am: F3 Practice
10.00am: F2 Practice
12pm: Spanish GP Practice One (session starts 12.30pm)
1.55pm: F3 Qualifying
2.50pm: F2 Qualifying
3.45pm: Spanish GP Practice Two (session starts 4pm)
5.15pm: The F1 Show: Spain

Saturday June 3
9.25am: F3 Sprint
11.15am: Spanish GP Practice Three (session starts 11.30am)
1.10pm: F2 Sprint
2.15pm: Spanish GP Qualifying build-up
3pm: Spanish GP Qualifying
6.15pm: IndyCar – Detroit GP Qualifying

Sunday June 4
8.50am: F3 Feature Race
10.20am: F2 Feature Race
12.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday Spanish GP build-up
2pm: THE SPANISH GRAND PRIX
4pm: Chequered Flag Spanish GP reaction
5.45pm: Indy NXT – Detroit GP
8pm: IndyCar – Detroit GP

Will Red Bull’s winning run in F1 2023 continue at the Spanish GP? Watch all the action live on Sky Sports F1 from June 2-4 Get Sky Sports