04 March 2023 , 20:14
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Toto Wolff was left very impressed as Aston Martin managed to "gain two seconds in half a year when their car is half ours".
Mercedes were the losers as Fernando Alonso stuck his AMR23 on the third row of the grid in qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix. Aston Martin threatened the Formula 1 status quo in pre-season testing and look ready to follow through with their threat to trouble the top teams.
Red Bull started the season as they would have hoped with Max Verstappen taking pole ahead of team-mate Sergio Perez. Ferrari locked out the second row of the grid as Charles Leclerc went marginally faster than Carlos Sainz.
Then there was Alonso, making the fifth grid slot his own with George Russell in sixth and Lewis Hamilton one place further back. Lance Stroll managed to go eighth fastest despite driving with pins in his wrist and a broken toe after a pre-season training accident.
The fact Aston Martin were able to sneak ahead of Mercedes is made all the more impressive by the fact they have a relationship with the Silver Arrows. The Silverstone team is powered by Mercedes engines while they also buy other parts, including the gearbox and rear suspension.
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Speaking to the media after qualifying, Wolff couldn't help but be left impressed by what his team's customers have managed to achieve. He said: "Our aim, while being humble about it, is to fight for victories and the world championship so whatever is between us and pole position is less relevant.
Toto Wolff said Aston Martin had done "an outstanding job" with their car (PA)"Now Fernando is there we can only take our hat off [for] what they achieved. They gained two seconds in half a year and their car is half ours, from the engine, gearbox and the rear suspension. And the same wind tunnel. So there's a lot of parallels and you just need to acknowledge that they've done an outstanding job."
Also speaking after qualifying, Alonso declared himself happy that the team had achieved its target for the session. "Our aim was to be in the top five, top six, at the beginning of the weekend it was to put both cars in Q3, and I think our expectations were to be 0.5 or 0.6 [seconds] from Red Bull," he said.
"And I think the pole position is around that time, what we are missing, so I think that we expected this position and I'm certainly happy. I'm very surprised – I believe in the project, and I think all the technical department, the design group, they're very talented, new facilities coming, so I felt Aston Martin will be a contender in the future.
"But I thought it will take some time, maybe in the first season to develop the car, the new project, but this car is a very basic car that we launched and you know, it's just the baseline of the platform to develop future cars. So, I think to start in the top five, race one, it was unexpected for everybody."