Alonso ahead of home race: "Let's see when we have another opportunity"
F1 News
Fernando Alonso is happy with the new updates Aston Martin is bringing to his home Grand Prix, but does not think the British team has gained on their rivals Red Bull ahead of the race in near Barcelona. Yet, he is still looking forward to fight for the best possible result he can achieve in his home country.
“I think we are in the same position. We just had a Checo out of the equation in Monaco, so that's why we fought for second. At the beginning of the season we had similar opportunities. We saw the potential of Red Bull with a very good pace from Max with the mediums. Let's see when we have another opportunity. I don't think we are in a different position or we are getting closer and closer to Red Bull,” the Spanish driver told GPblog among others at the Thursday press conference.
On the other hand, the former two-time world champion is also happy with Aston Martin and the progress his team makes for every race weekend. “We have some new parts. I'm not sure exactly what. You will see it on the documents that FIA is releasing. I think front wing there is some modification there. We are always bringing new parts to the car. Some of them are just circuit specifics. Sometimes it's just an improvement in lap time. I'm happy with how we are approaching every race. There is always something new in our car.”
On a potential Madrid GP
As it is his home race, Alonso was asked about the possibility of moving the race to Madrid starting from 2026. The Spaniard gave some thoughts on the possibility of moving to a street circuit in the country’s capital.
“I don't know. I really don't know what are the plans. It's going to be a Formula 1 decision. If Madrid is in contention or not, I will be happy to race in Barcelona. I will be happy to race in Madrid. If I'm here in 2026, if I'm not here, I will watch on TV and it doesn't change much. The street circuits, yeah, probably. It's good to have a few, but not too many. I think when you come to a traditional circuit, it's also nice to have a consistent track from Friday to Sunday. Not much track evolution and these kind of things," Alonso said in terms what another street circuit mean for the sport.
"Let's see. I think at the end of the day, it's up to the region if they are happy to host the race or not. Barcelona has been up and down. Sometimes they are positive about hosting the race. Sometimes they don't want the race. If they don't want the race, it's very easy then because some other region will love it,” Alonso added.