Top F1 teams say Aston Martin will “definitely will be fighting at the front”

There has been much speculation about Aston’s potential for the upcoming campaign after Fernando Alonso put the AMR23 in the top three spots on both the opening two days of pre-season testing in Bahrain last week and then produced an eye-catching race simulation run on that event’s final evening.

That meant Aston did not get involved with the performance runs produced by most other teams at testing’s end, but it nevertheless did not stop interest building in what it might be able to achieve in 2023.

Speaking on the pre-event media day for this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix, Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Mercedes Lewis Hamilton were both adamant Aston would be in the mix with the three ‘Class A’ squads that have dominated F1 for the last decade based on what they witnessed last week.

Perez said his former team, from the days when it was known as Force India and then Racing Point, “looked very strong in testing”, which leaves him to believe it will “be very strong throughout the year”.

He added: “Definitely they have a strong car. They definitely will be fighting at the front.”

Hamilton said he and Mercedes currently think Aston is “fully in the fight”.

“I’m really happy to see that Aston have taken such a step forward,” he added.

“It’s difficult [to see the true pecking order]. Through all the data we have, you don’t know what fuel loads people were on and all these different things. So, it’s a bit all over the place.

“But it looks like they’re very strong. And they could be fighting right at the front.

“We’ll find out within the next day or so. I can’t say whether they’re ahead of us, or we behind them. We’ll find out.

“But I’ve always hoped that there’s going to be more than just two teams or more than three teams in the mix. So, I think you’re seeing that finally, which is a positive.”

Newly minted double world champion Max Verstappen said he thought Aston had had a “very positive start” to the new season, but it was the Red Bull racer’s comments on Alonso’s demeanour that drew attention in Bahrain on Thursday, given the Spaniard has so far been very coy on his new team’s 2023 potential.

“I think Aston Martin did build a really good car over the past winter,” said Verstappen.

“And what is important as well, with these new cars qualifying speed doesn’t matter that much anymore. If you have a good car for the race, you can still overtake.

“I’m…