It’s sad to see Alonso regress to driving pretty much the same car (relative pace wise) he had when he temporarily left the sport after 2018.
2023 was great. As a long term Alonso fan, it’s probably my favourite season of the post 2022 era even though there was practically no contention for the titles. In the end, it turned out to be a case of “too good to be true”. Still impressive they somehow “fluked” themselves into the 2nd best car for the first half of 2023, when clearly, with the benefit of hindisght, we know the team was not ready for that sort of level back then.
I am hopeful they can do good next year though. Similar to McLaren a couple of years back, AM has had a lot of investments that are now fully online. I am one of those people who doesn’t believe one man can make a huge difference in modern F1, but it’s tough to discredit Newey. He is an amazing asset to have, and Honda is not what they were 10 years ago. You can rely on them to develop a competitive engine.
I just hope we get to see Alonso get that 33rd win before he retires. Beyond that, it would just be wishful thinking.
Can’t believe it’s been 12 years since his last win in F1 to be honest. I still remember the disappointment of 2013 once Pirelii reverted tires and Vettel whitewashed the competition
