Alonso: It's too early to draw conclusions about the balance of power

      Fernando Alonso crashed his car in the first race of the season in Melbourne, but his teammate Lance Stroll finished sixth. At a press conference in China, Fernando talked about how competitive Aston Martin's car is this season.

      Fernando Alonso: "At the moment, it's difficult to assess how good our car is. Qualifying was fine – before the injuries sustained in the second session, I was running a competitive time. Based on the results of such a race, it is difficult to assess the true speed, but I was more or less able to keep up with the pace of the rivals ahead, I controlled the condition of the tires.

      You need to run several races on dry asphalt and on different types of tracks to draw conclusions. After four or five races, we will have a better understanding of the balance of power.

      Maybe in Melbourne we were faster than the rivals who were ahead, but it's difficult to overtake on the Australian track because the race path is very narrow. Tire degradation was high, but that's always the case when you're driving close behind another car.

      The first race turned out to be interesting. The pace in qualifying was even higher than expected, and the race itself proved difficult not only for us, but for everyone else. Thanks to Lance Stroll's very good race performance, the team scored eight points.

      It will be more difficult for us to repeat last year's Chinese Grand Prix results this weekend, but I will try to earn the first points of the season. Shanghai has one of the most interesting circuits of the season in terms of driving, so I'm looking forward to the start of the weekend."

      When Fernando Alonso was asked to comment on Gabriel Bortoleto's performance in Melbourne, whose career is being handled by his company A14 Management, the Aston Martin driver replied: "An impressive performance, but there was no surprise in this, as he is the best driver of the new generation along with Oliver Berman.

      Gabriel worked hard during the winter and prepared well. The track in Melbourne is not the most suitable for a debut, and the race proved to be very difficult for everyone. It was a difficult test for him, but Gabriel performed impressively. The first of many races is behind us."