– For Fernando Alonso, there was a double reason to celebrate in Suzuka: shortly after the birth of his first child, the 44-year-old Spaniard achieved his first finish at the Japanese Grand Prix (race report) with the still problem-plagued Aston Martin AMR26.
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“We went to Australia and were one hundred percent sure that we wouldn’t finish the race,” Alonso recalls. “The following week in China, we were 95 percent convinced that we wouldn’t make it. And now, in the third race, we actually did it.”
“The fact that we finished the race in Suzuka shows clear progress for the team, and that is a strong positive signal that we should take away from the weekend. We will now analyze the data from Silverstone and Sakura and continue to drive development forward in order to compete in Miami with a better understanding.”
Because despite all the joy over finishing, there is also a drop of bitterness: even newcomer Cadillac is now faster than Aston Martin. “It’s not the pace we want,” Alonso clarifies after his 18th place in Suzuka.
Fernando Alonso: “Honda is working really hard”
“But there is progress, and the team is continuously working to improve further,” adds the Spaniard, for whom the first finish of the year in Japan is “hopefully the first step for everyone to promote both, constant improvement.”
