Fernando Alonso has insisted that he is \u201cready to help as much as I can\u201d to make the Chinese Grand Prix a smoother experience for Aston Martin as they continue to troubleshoot their car\u2019s early issues.<\/p>\n
In the build up to the first race of the season in Australia<\/a>, the Silverstone-based outfit openly shared<\/a> the problems that ultimately prevented both Alonso<\/a> and Lance Stroll<\/a> from finishing the Grand Prix, which was primarily used as a data gathering opportunity.<\/p>\n The Spaniard was nevertheless able to showcase the skills that have been present throughout his career, including his rapid reaction time that saw him improve from P17 to P10 on the opening lap. He slowly lost the positions and retired from the race, leading to his conclusion that there is plenty to tick off before Aston Martin<\/a> can consider a round a success.<\/p>\n Asked what a positive weekend looks like for the team in a press conference with Haas\u2019 Esteban Ocon<\/a> and Alpine\u2019s Pierre Gasly<\/a>, he responded: \u201cWhen we are able to do laps without any issues, I think they\u2019re very important laps because even now, Esteban and Pierre were not optimised for Australia apparently.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it was the same case for everybody and they are maybe 10 times ahead of us \u2013 if they completed 1,000 laps since the Barcelona test, we completed maybe 100 so we\u2019re nine or 10 times behind. If they\u2019re still not perfectly optimised, imagine ourselves.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are at square one so we limit the laps. We really need to be able to practice and find the window on the car on the chassis side. That will be very important for the weekend. I will be happy if we leave China with a more or less normal Free Practice, a more or less normal Qualifying accumulating laps, and probably attempt to do the full race on Sunday if we\u2019re allowed.\u201d<\/p>\n