The biggest risk for Aston Martin and Alonso

Fernando Alonso has added three podiums to a possible three at the start of the 2023 F1 season, with a Aston Martin is very good which showed itself as the second best car on two different tracks, and capable of being on top on three different layouts. The green team has a clear development plan where they want to change the car “in two thirds” from now until the end of the year. The goal is nothing more than to maintain their current position ahead of their pursuers, Mercedes and Ferrari, while trying to get closer to a Red Bull that is currently in another league.

In this evolutionary battle, Aston Martin has a big risk that nothing but Mercedes can do. The green set has more wind tunnel and CFD simulation hours than its rivals, but has the same budget ceiling. In this sense, Aston Martin starts with the advantage of having a new car with more room for improvement and having a very good single-seater base already confirmed in the first three races in which to improve, with many options for naturally evolve its car .performance. However, what Mercedes can do is the main question.

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Fernando Alonso has already warned him after qualifying for the Australian F1 GP: “Mercedes, they want to leave this car and they’re always complaining, and the truth is they’re going fast. They’ve been hidden for half the year, they’re definitely there to fight or win races like they did with Russell in Brazil (in 2022)”. The Spaniard is clear that his main rival in the car development race must be Mercedes.

Things are clearer than the Ferrari

To his direct pursuers, Ferrari leaves more doubts, with problems to be solved that seem to have a concept, since Sainz slipped in Australia, and the Spaniard made sure that they will not be solved quickly. The Italians advanced in Melbourne, but it could be a one-off event. They should confirm and continue to work on improving their car. Meanwhile, Mercedes also showed tremendous progress in Australia, but since the second race, in Jeddah, they have a clearer way forward.

Mercedes is preparing a revolution for Imola

After Melbourne, the doubt on Mercedes is to know if its performance in Australia is more due to the characteristics of the track, or if on the other hand they can maintain their rhythm in the next round, in three weeks Azerbaijan (Baku).

But apart from that, what should worry Aston Martin more is that the people of Brackley have warned that after the appointment in Saudi Arabia that pthey organize a revolution in his car. The changes will come at the Imola event (May 19-21), Australia’s Toto Wolff has confirmed. There, the stars can start a new path to get closer to Aston Martin.

In the Brackley box They are very confident in their improvements and Wolff confirmed a few weeks ago that they are checking all parts of the car, including the floor, to significantly alter its course.

“We are now ahead and changing things. We are taking huge steps now. with our R&D department, really big steps because we just had to have confirmation in Bahrain that we were wrong”, commented Wolff after the Saudi Arabian GP, ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ for development. the concept car from last year and hints that the car they will show at Imola will be very different: “There are no dogmas about how the car should be. It should just be the fastest racing car possible. If that car looks like a Red Bull… I don’t care. I’m not ashamed of being fast.”

“The kind of gains that are being made in our R&D and in aerodynamics are far greater than we’ve had in a long time”he added. We will have to see which car Mercedes will bring to the Emilia Romagna event and the Grand Prix that needs time to fully understand its new package to get its full potential.

Australia, punctual performance or progress?

After those words, the Australian GP arrived. There, he was surprised to find that the current “lost” Mercedes concept could also be very fast at Albert Park, albeit far behind Red Bull. Did Mercedes go too far with the concept change they had planned? Wolff made it clear that despite the improvement shown at Albert Park, his goal is not to fight for the podium, but for victories. So he indicated that a change in concept was necessary to get closer to Red Bull. “Obviously it’s not where we want it to be. We want to be in frontbut finishing 2nd and 3rd was more than we expected this weekend”, he commented.

According to Wolff, Mercedes’ progress in Australia is due to the team’s ability to produce tires on this track. “I think the team did a brilliant job to get the most out of the car. I think we did a great job with the tires and both drivers delivered. You can see from the onboard camera that the car is still nervous and difficult to drive. It’s not as easy to drive as it looks with the Aston Martin or the Red Bull. But they were balancing the car on a knife’s edge, and they got it.”

Mercedes, there’s no going back

In Baku, Mercedes will once again test its current car. But there is no going back. In Imola, the stars must present their first great novelties. For its part, Aston Martin has already announced that it will take small developments to the track as soon as they get them, the first ones scheduled for Baku and Imola. The evolutionary race will begin, and in that sense, the main rival, apart from Red Bull, should be Mercedes.

“I think the car is good. We’ve been competitive in all three races, so I think we can confirm that. Now it’s a development race with the other teams, who can bring improvements and when,” he said. Mike Krack, Aston Martin Team Principal, on ‘DAZN F1’.

“It is difficult to keep up with the big players. We are not fighting against small teams, we are fighting against very big teams, with a lot of experience and with good infrastructure. But we will fight. We are a team full of dedicated people, who are also great. Let’s not cross arms.”added the Aston Martin boss. The battle to chase down Red Bull looks exciting against Mercedes.