Max Verstappen believes victories for Fernando Alonso this season “are definitely on the table” given where Aston Martin has started the year.
Alonso finished third to the two Red Bulls in Bahrain and heads to this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix with a car that appears capable of fighting to be best of the rest ahead of Ferrari and Mercedes. With the strong starting point offering the potential for further development and Alonso himself saying “there is more to come from our side”, Verstappen believes the Spaniard is likely to add to his tally of 32 victories this season.
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“I hope so for Fernando as well because he has had a few years where there was not really a possibility to fight at the front, so I’m happy to see him (on the podium) already in race one,” Verstappen said. “I think at Aston Martin they really have the spirit and drive, they want to win and they’ve hired a lot of good people. So I guess it can only get better for them.
“For this year, difficult to say if they’re going to challenge for the championship, but race wins are definitely on the table. I’ve been in the same position where some races I’m finishing 20 to 40 seconds behind the winners and you still win two or three races a year because sometimes there are some tracks which really suit your car and everything just comes together and you can win a race with maybe sometimes a bit of help or luck.
“But for sure they have a really strong package. And now of course it’s all about developing it further.”
Although Aston Martin has made a major step forward after revising its car concept and now is in the mix with the previous top three, Verstappen doesn’t believe it’s a sign of the 2022 technical regulations helping to level the playing field and provide more opportunities to other teams.
“I think it doesn’t matter if it was the previous generation or this one. I think if you have the right people in charge, and they really want to win and they hire the right people, anything is possible.”