Alonso: I hope I can still get on the podium.

      The season is less than two months away: the Australian Grand Prix will take place in Melbourne on March 16. For Fernando Alonso it will be his 20th race in Albert Park - in 2006 he celebrated a victory there, when he was still playing for Renault, and in total climbed on the podium at the end of the Australian stage 6 times. The previous time it was relatively recently, in 2023, but now the two-time world champion warned fans in advance that does not connect special expectations with the upcoming season. Important changes, which are taking place in Aston Martin F1, can give effect only after some time. Andy Cowell was recently appointed as the new head of the team, and Mike Crack is now responsible only for the work of the racing team; Bob Bell took the post of executive technical director, Enrique Cardile was appointed chief technical director. But the most hopeful of all is the arrival of Adrian Newey, who will start his new job on March 3. Lawrence Stroll, owner of Aston Martin F1, does not hide his ambitions: he wants his team to fight for the championship in the foreseeable future. "Of course, in 2025 it will not happen, because our cars will remain almost the same as they were last season - stated Alonso in a new documentary, which premiered on the streaming platform DAZN. - It will be almost impossible to make a noticeable leap forward. I hope the season will be better than in 2024, but about winning the championship is not a question. But then, in 2026, in the championship there will be a change of regulations, and we will already work Adrian Newey, who in April will begin the project of a new machine. However, we should be in a good mood this year, but to win the championship is still far away. Nevertheless, I know that expectations will be very high when in a year we begin to prepare for the season and present their future car ... And I already know what questions I will be asked this year: can we even dream of winning the championship? To those who will ask about it, I will ask a counter question: what if Adrian Newey moved to another team, for example, in Williams? If I were an ordinary fan watching TV at home, I would think that Williams should also be taken into account. In general, it's normal that Aston Martin is in the center of attention now, but we also have high expectations... I hope that I will still be able to get on the podium, win races and fight for winning the championship. At the same time, I realize that in 2026 events can develop in any scenario, everyone will be in an equal position, and we can only hope that we can succeed. But we don't know that yet.