Anthony Davidson spots Fernando Alonso deliberately ‘burning up’ Aston Martin tyres in F1 testing

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Fernando Alonso allowed his ‘frustration’ to get the better of him as he struggled with the Aston Martin during F1 testing, Anthony Davidson says.

Aston Martin were arguably the team under the most pressure heading into the final three days of running in Bahrain.

Lance Stroll declared that they were four seconds off the pace last week as they grappled with a variety of problems. The Honda engine is underpowered and unreliable, while the car itself looks difficult to drive.

How worried are you about Aston Martin after Lance Stroll’s BRUTAL comments?

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In a late change to Aston Martin’s plan, two-time world champion Alonso drove the car on Wednesday morning rather than Stroll.

Fernando Alonso’s ‘frustration’ came out while driving Aston Martin

Midway through the morning session, the world feed picked up Alonso on a lap as he tried to close the three-second gap to the front. Even from an off-board view, it was obvious that he was struggling with the car.

After multiple wobbles, Alonso squirmed out of the final corner, laying some rubber down on the circuit. Commentator Anthony Davidson suspected that it was deliberate.

“I think that’s a bit of frustration coming out,” he explained. “You normally wouldn’t do that. That’s just really burning up your rear tyres for no reason.”

Prove us wrong: Fernando Alonso’s faith in Adrian Newey is misguided this season after testing woes

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Davidson doubts Alonso will be the only driver who loses his temper in the cockpit now that the downforce levels have been reduced. They are already sliding much more often, with Lewis Hamilton comparing the driving experience to rallying.

“You’ll see a lot of frustration from drivers this year because the cars are not as nice to drive as last year,” he said. “Just driving them around like you’re doing here, in open testing, you’re just going to have memory of how good last year’s car used to be.”

Fernando Alonso has expected to have the fastest car ‘for 20 years’

Alonso is certain that Aston Martin will have the best car on the grid eventually, calling it a ‘master of time’ before Adrian Newey’s expertise makes the difference.

Speaking before the session, Jolyon Palmer quipped that Alonso has been making the same prediction for two decades. He won his second world championship in 2006 and failed to add a third at McLaren (twice), Ferrari and Alpine.

“I think Fernando’s said that for 20 years, hasn’t he?” said Palmer. “He will have the fastest car!

“It’s a bad start for them, and it will take a bit of time to come back. Maybe he will yet have the fastest car again.”

Aston Martin are ‘disappointed’ in Newey’s design so far after dealing with overheating last week, but the legendary designer is already working on a solution for the first race in Melbourne.

There’s a ‘funeral’ atmosphere at Aston Martin right now, and based on Alonso’s frustration, they haven’t started the final test on the right foot.