Aston Martin chief Mike Krack has pinpointed Monaco where Fernando Alonso could claim a “magical” win in 2023.
Alonso and Aston Martin have arguably been the biggest story so far in Formula 1 this year, with the two-time world champion finishing third in each of the opening three races.
That has led to anticipation that Alonso can end his 10-year wait for a 33rd Grand Prix win, and Krack thinks the streets of Monte Carlo could provide the best opportunity.
“I think there are some tracks where the combination of Fernando with this car may still be more magical,” he told Spain’s DAZN, via Marca.
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“Come on, we’ll try Monaco. We have shortcomings on very long straights, it’s no secret. We’ve seen it and we have to work on it a lot.
“But on tracks where this doesn’t matter so much is where we can have more confidence, but being fast in these races isn’t everything. You have to be fast, you have to finish, not make mistakes and then see what the result is.”
Alonso has previously admitted he’ll need some luck from Red Bull if he is to win in 2023, and the 41-year-old isn’t setting any expectations.
“It’s all happy days at the moment,” he said. “We never expected to be on the podium, maybe even throughout the season, and in three races we have three. So, everything that comes now is a plus.
“We take every opportunity and 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, Ferrari – teams that are used to a fast 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’s going.”
Indeed, with many teams preparing significant upgrades for upcoming races in Baku and Imola, Alonso admits there’s no guarantee Aston Martin’s form will continue.
“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?” he explained.
“I think the first three races being away from Europe, it’s difficult to bring upgrades and things like that. 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.”
Team boss Krack also feels Ferrari and Mercedes could jump ahead as they correct issues with their respective 2023 cars.
“What I think has happened is that maybe the others haven’t done it yet 100%. I say ‘yet’ on purpose.” he told the BBC.
“This allowed us to make that jump from seven to two [in the pecking order], but it’s probably more like four/five, maybe one or two places, depending on how everyone else has done their job.
“It will be difficult to keep up with the big players. We are not fighting with small teams, we are fighting against very large teams, very experienced and with great infrastructures, but we will fight,” he said.
“We are a team full of people who are very dedicated to their work, who are also good. We are not going to sit idly by.”