Sky Sports F1 reporter Ted Kravitz has predicted that Fernando Alonso will win his first race since the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix this weekend, at the iconic Monaco Grand Prix.
Alonso has made an exceptional start to the 2023 season, with the Spaniard having claimed four podiums for Aston Martin from the opening five races.
All of his podiums, though, have come in the form of third place, with the 41-year-old being desperate to finish higher.
This weekend will likely be his best bet at finishing in one of the top two positions due to the nature of the Circuit de Monaco, with Alonso having admitted that the track suits the AMR23.
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Alonso believes Monaco is the team’s best chance of victory, which would bring Red Bull’s imperious start to the campaign to an end.
Red Bull have won every race so far this season, with Kravitz admitting that an Alonso victory in Monaco is perhaps what “F1 needs”.
“I am going with 33, I am going with the 33rd win for Fernando Alonso,” Kravitz told the Sky Sports F1 podcast.
“I am going to get onboard with that hype train. I know he’s invested a lot into it. It’s a bit of a draggy car but it’s got great tyre performance and he’s such a clever guy who knows how to win around Monaco.
“I know Max does, I know Lewis [Hamilton] does. I just think it’s the result that he’s after and I think it would be a result maybe F1 needs.”
Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez will, of course, be in contention for victory as well, with the Mexican having won the Monaco GP last season.
His win last year did come in controversial circumstances though, with Checo having spun in the closing seconds of Q3, blocking the track in the process before the tunnel.
As a result, nobody was able to improve their lap times, something which infuriated Verstappen who was pushing for pole position.
Verstappen supposedly believes Perez span on purpose in Monaco last year, meaning the Dutchman will likely be fired up to win this weekend and claim his revenge.
“It’s all been smiles between the Red Bull pairing considering how it ended last year,” said host Simon Lazenby.
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“Let’s not forget how it started – it started at Monaco with Perez’s little park.”
Kravitz added: “Well that’s the other reason why Verstappen wants to win and why I am completely wrong about Alonso winning Monaco.
“Verstappen will want to win Monaco because of that, because of the disappointment of last year.”