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It was a tough race at the Australian Grand Prix this year for Spanish motorsports racing driver Fernando Alonso, who drove too fast in Melbourne and lost control of his AMR25 at the Turn 6 exit and crashed into the barriers. While his teammate Lance Stroll had a wonderful sixth-place finish, Alonso fared poorly, and Aston Martin had bittersweet feelings at the end of the race.
Social media is speculating that Pierre Gasly’s Alpine might have inadvertently sent Alonso spinning. While there is no such evidence, it is being said that Gasly’s car kicked up gravel while coming through Turn 6, seconds before Alonso spun. Although Alonso avoided criticizing Gasly openly, he alluded to the occurrence of a strange ‘mountain of gravel’ that made his car behave unexpectedly.
Talking to DAZN Spain, Alonso said he took his normal racing line but was surprised by the track conditions. “It’s one of those races that you don’t really enjoy behind the wheel. The white lines are like ice; the visibility is very low,” Alonso said.
Aston Martin principal Andy Cowell supported Alonso’s complaint, admitting that gravel buildup could have contributed to it. He did emphasize the importance of learning more about the AMR25’s behaviour in these conditions.
It’s just that we need to understand a little bit more about car characteristics and how do we improve them, but it’s incredibly hard with the aero characteristics of the cars where you want to run them low to get downforce, but you want them to have a broad drivable characteristic as well,” Cowell said.
When questioned about possible modifications to avoid gravel from influencing racing conditions, Cowell said, “I guess we go round in a loop, don’t we, on how to make sure that we race on the racetrack. Gravel is one of the options, but it comes with downsides, different kerb types, and so on. We’ve tried a wide variety of things. I don’t really want to comment too much on circuit design; just focus on making a fast race car that stays on the track.”
Despite his setback in Australia, Alonso is looking forward to the upcoming Chinese Grand Prix, where he has historically performed well. Reflecting on past experiences, he jokingly noted that Shanghai’s circuit lacks the “ghost” of gravel that has haunted him in Melbourne.
“I love China. It’s a track we’ve always been good at. And we don’t have the gravel that we have here at Turn 6!” He said, “I think it’s been a ghost we’ve always had hanging over us every time we go through that point of the circuit, and it’s played a trick on me again in the race.”
