On Track
Hear from Fernando, Lance and Team Principal Mike Krack after the opening day of practice in Spain, where fans turned up to welcome Fernando home and urge on the team.
Laps under the sun in Spain.
AMF1 Team got up to speed on Friday around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for the Spanish Grand Prix. The fans were out in force under the sunshine on a day where lots of useful running was completed.
With revisions made to the final sector for 2023, and Pirelli bringing new rubber to test for later in the season, as well as teams bringing upgrades to test, it was a busy Friday around the first permanent racetrack visited since Bahrain.
Hear from Fernando and Lance after the opening day of running around the Montmeló venue.
Friday
Free Practice
“It’s so close over one lap that I think a couple of tenths will put you in a completely different position in the classification, so we won’t read too much into the times.” Fernando finished second in Free Pracice Two but says there’s potential for things to change on Saturday given how close everyone is all across the grid.
“The focus of today has been running various new test items and evaluating the new Pirelli construction prototype tyres, so that made for a couple of busy sessions on track.” Lance explains that he spent Friday getting to grips with our new upgrades, instead of going for outright lap time. Pirelli also set aside Friday to test their new specification of C1 slick tyres that will come into use from the British Grand Prix onwards.
“The upgrades we’ve introduced are helping the performance of the car and we are happy with them so far, but let’s see where we are tomorrow when everyone is pushing. A lot of the grandstands are green and our Aston Martin merchandise is very popular. The fans have been amazing and it’s great to see their support. Hopefully we can put on a good show for them tomorrow.”It’s been an electric build-up to the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix and Fernando looks to feel the energy from our passionate fans.
“That’s given us a lot of data to work through tonight and hopefully we can find some more lap time ahead of qualifying as the car wasn’t quite where I wanted it. The field was incredibly tight in both sessions, so we know how important it is to find that pace and we’ll be working hard to do so.” Lance says there is more to come. The hard work will continue on both sides of the garage ahead of FP3 on Saturday morning.

Race preview by Cognizant
Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is the all-rounder’s track, a true test of the car through 14 tricky corners and two long straights. It’s almost time to turn Spain green and welcome Fernando Alonso home – but what else does the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix have in store?

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