Fernando Alonso eyeing chance to end Red Bull winning streak

Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso (right) is hoping to finally get a win over the Red Bull duo of Max Verstappen (centre) and Sergio Perez (left). PHOTO: AFP

MONTE CARLO – Fernando Alonso will seek to break Max Verstappen and Red Bull’s winning streak and claim his first win since 2013, as Formula One resumes this weekend with the 80th running of the classic Monaco Grand Prix.

After devastating floods forced the cancellation of last week’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola, the F1 circus was happy to be greeted by blue skies and warm sunshine in the Mediterranean principality on Wednesday.

As visitors sought shade, Spaniard Alonso and his Aston Martin team contemplated how to gamble on delivering his third win on the old, but glamorous street circuit, where he triumphed with Renault in 2006 and McLaren in 2007.

After four third-place finishes from five races, the 41-year-old has emerged as not only the biggest threat to two-time world champion Verstappen and his teammate Sergio Perez, but also this season’s box-office attraction, a wily wolf with unrivalled experience.

“We have a car that maybe isn’t the fastest on the straights, but very good in the corners,” Alonso explained, with a flash of his customary mischievous grin.

“So we need to improve that – but it is good for the circuits that are slower like Monaco and Budapest and Singapore, these kind of circuits. I think (that is where) we put our main hopes at the moment.”

Alonso is third in the drivers’ title race on 75 points behind Verstappen on 119 and Perez, a street circuit specialist who won the 2022 race and more recently in Jeddah and Baku, on 105.

“This is the race every driver grows up and wants to win and I was lucky enough to achieve that last season,” Perez said.

“So, it’s made me hungrier to stand on the top step again.”

The Red Bulls have won all five races so far, with Verstappen claiming three.

Local hero Charles Leclerc of Ferrari, who has never tasted success at his home event, will hope for a change of luck as he bids for a third consecutive Monaco pole position.

Since 2018, he has accumulated only 12 points – for finishing fourth in 2022 – and is long overdue a result that reflects his talent, Ferrari’s form and reliability notwithstanding.

“Unfortunately, we have had problems from the first three races,” he conceded, reflecting on his meagre total of 34 points and seventh place in the driver’s standings.

“But here, anything is possible.”

He conceded that he will face a ferocious battle with the Red Bulls – “cars that are operating on another planet” – in Saturday’s qualifying session and also warned of the threat from Alonso’s sleek green machine.

“Aston Martin are capable of making a splash,” he added.

Despite the introduction of a major package of upgrades on their car, Mercedes are expected to remain in pursuit of their rivals.

But seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton is unlikely to add to his three Monaco triumphs and record 103 race wins overall.

“We have the first step in a new direction,” said team chief Toto Wolff, who is in talks with Hamilton on renewing his contract.

“It won’t be a silver bullet... But it may give the drivers a little more stability.”

Hamilton’s future remains a subject for conjecture, with his name associated again with Ferrari and Leclerc’s with Mercedes as rumours swirl.

“I’ve nothing to say,” said Leclerc, whose contract runs till the end of 2024.

“I can understand that people talk... Rumours exist, OK. But it doesn’t worry me. I am fully concentrated on the race and our work.

“I love Ferrari and I hope we can climb and reach the top together.” AFP, REUTERS

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