Alonso: Monaco, Budapest, Singapore main hope for a win

Fernando Alonso believes he can take his 33rd Formula 1 victory in 2023, and believes circuits like Monaco, Budapest and Singapore are his best chances of achieving that.

The 2005 and 2006 F1 Champion’s belief is based on the characteristics of his Aston Martin AMR23, that lacks top speed compared to rivals but can corner quite fast, and the circuits he mentioned usually reward such a car with their high downforce requirement, and lack of long straights.

Alonso has admitted that he’s gotten used to getting on a podium, as he finished third in four of the first five races this year, and is now looking for more, a second place, or even that 33rd win. And to be realistic, with the form Aston Martin have shown so far in 2023, the Spaniard’s ambitions are not outlandish.

Sky Sports F1‘s Martin Brundle asked the Aston Martin driver if he could “win a race or two” this year, the driver replying: “I think so, yes.”

Aston Martin should capitalize if Red Bull crack

“I don’t know. We seem to have a car that is maybe not the fastest on the straights. We need to improve that, but we are very good on the corners,” Alonso added when quizzed which tracks could see him take a win.

“So I would say that the slowest speeds of the championship, let’s say Monaco, Budapest, Singapore. These kind of circuits, I think we put our main hopes at the moment,” he explained.

However, the 41-year-old driver admitted that for him to win, he would need to capitalize on some Red Bull misfortune, or if the dominant team drops the ball somehow.

“The two Red Bulls they are always unbreakable, and they are always super-fast,” he pointed out. “It [the Red Bull] is stronger, it’s faster and the reliability has been always outstanding for them as well, finishing both cars in every race.

“If one day there is a crack there, if there is an opportunity, we need to make sure we are in that position and we’re still not making mistakes at any point in the weekend,” he insisted.

Alonso now head to Imola for the 2023 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, the first of the triple header, of which Monaco is the second race, so based on what he said, the 33rd win is not far away.