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Spanish F1 pundit Jesus Balseiro has explained Fernando Alonso's 'we will crush them' remark after the race in Barcelona. He stated that the Spaniard said it because he felt the car was not in the working window.
Alonso did not have the best of races in Spain as the driver could not continue his impressive run of podium finishes. The race saw Fernando Alonso have an uncharacteristically bad weekend as he damage his floor in qualifying.
To make things worse, the Aston Martin drivers were easily passed on the track in the race and the Spaniard could not secure a home podium.
According to Spanish F1 pundit Jesus Balseiro, the race in Barcelona was a one-off and the team will be back in contention in Canada. He stated that Fernando Alonso was quite confident about the race in Canada and that is where the "we will crush them" remark came from.
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Talking about Aston Martin's prospects, Jesus revealed that the team were confident that it can keep up with Mercedes in the pecking order. Talking about the team's chances in Montreal, Jesus said on the F1 Nation podcast:
“I asked Fernando right when he jumped out of the car and he said that he is not worried about Mercedes, he thinks it is a track thing, this is Mercedes track as it has been in the past. And actually he’s words were in Canada ‘we will crush them’."
He added:
"He thinks that with the upgrades they will bring in Canada and the following race that he expects Aston won’t slow down in this fight."
Fernando Alonso pushing the Aston Martin to podiums
Recognizing a possible threat from Mercedes, Jesus speculated that the German team is only ahead of Aston Martin in the championship because it has two strong drivers. He also felt that maybe Fernando Alonso is pushing the team forward to these results and not the car.
He said:
"But also it’s fair to say that this fight, Aston-Mercedes, in a way Mercedes is up there because they have two strong drivers but also I don’t know how much Fernando is pushing the Aston up."
He added:
"Maybe the Aston Martin is below Mercedes on a regular basis but it is Fernando with his five podiums in seven races who is maybe putting the car a step above its real place.”
Fernando Alonso will be hoping to secure another podium this weekend. The Spaniard already has five in the bag this season and will be trying to add his sixth at Aston Martin's home race.
