Alonso aims for P2 this year: 'Tight battle until the end'

The Spaniard hopes that, together with his 'new' team, he can secure second place, although it will not be easy. "It's going to be a tight battle until the end. Let's see what the final position is. We cannot forget that behind us there are some strong competitors and very fast teams and drivers, Ferrari and McLaren now. We're still P3 in the championship and we aim to finish P2, but with our feet on the ground and knowing that it's going to be a tight battle until the end."

First win

It is a special weekend for Alonso. Twenty years ago, he won his very first Grand Prix at the Hungaroring, becoming the youngest ever race winner as a 22-year-old driver. This record was later broken by one Max Verstappen, who won the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix as an 18-year-old. "It was obviously a magical moment of my life and my career as well. Everything changed after that. We ended up winning the race and it was a bit of a surprise and we were very happy. It changed a little bit, especially off-track. Many things in my life and in Spain as well. No more privacy in my life since 20 years," Alonso said of that sunny 24 August 2003.

Better circuit for Aston Martin

The Aston Martin driver hopes to put in a better performance this weekend than in Austria and Great Britain. "I think because the layout of the track and the characteristics are already more similar to the circuits that we did perform well so far this year. I think high-speed corners, a lot of straights are not maybe the strength of our package and I think Austria and Silverstone were a clear example of those. Hopefully, here we can come back to a more strong performance, even though our main competitors did improve their package and they will be very, very strong as well here. It's going to be difficult, but hopefully good fun."