13/04/2023
NEWS STORY
Fernando Alonso expects things to get "very interesting" as the sport enters the phase at which upgrades can be expected to arrive 'thick and fast'.
After three races, the Spaniard and Max Verstappen are the only drivers to have made it to the podium at all three events.
That said, the Australian Grand Prix saw the Spaniard have to work that little bit harder, with the early elimination of Charles Leclerc and George Russell almost certainly aiding his cause.
Despite the fact that Baku is a Sprint weekend it is anticipated that a number of teams, certainly McLaren, will have upgrades, while the subsequent return to Europe should see them arriving on a regular basis.
Alonso, who has forgotten more than most currently involved in the sport will ever know, believes the next phase of the season is going to be key.
"It seems that qualifying is quite important now, because race pace is very similar," says the two-time world champion, "and I think now we enter into a part of the season that is going to be very interesting... which team is developing the car faster.
"I think the first three races being away from Europe, it's difficult to bring upgrades and things like that," he continues. "But from now on, maybe we see the level of the teams changing a little bit, race-by-race, depending on who brings an upgrade that is good enough.
"For us, it's happy days at the moment," he says. "We never expected to be on the podium, maybe even throughout the season, and in three races we have three. So everything that is coming now is a plus.
"We are taking every opportunity, we need to learn and we need to grow as a team, also maybe now off-track because we are racing against Red Bull, Mercedes, and Ferrari, teams that are used to this kind of pace of development and things like that.
"Maybe we are just in a learning process, so we take this 2023 in a very humble manner, and let's see how it goes."
Interesting times, indeed.