What’s going on at Aston Martin and what should Alonso aim for for the rest of the year?

In the preview of the final F1 Spanish GP in Barcelona, ​​​​​​Fernando Alonso began to sound a warning. It’s like he wants to prepare his fans for what’s to come. Or perhaps an intuition, but he assured after grabbing victory in Monaco that not everything will be rosy in the near future. “The bad weekend is coming, huh! And I don’t know if it will be or it will be one, there will be two Red Bulls, two Ferraris and two Mercedes and we might be 7th or 8th there. And I will continue to be happy. Because the project is more long-term and not from weekend to weekend. That could be other teams, who will go in the short term. We have a mission and it is more long-term”, he argued. He didn’t make a mistake.

On the same weekend, at Barcelona, was left in the Top-4 in the race for the first time in his 7th last place, with a great drop in speed compared to Mercedes. I am sure that in Canada I will meet the improvement of the stars and the thing will work with the second best car, which is closer to Verstappen. But in Austria and Great Britaincircuits with many fast curves, the green car is diluted.

From the second car, to suffer ups and downs

The first thing to note is that things have changed a lot since the beginning of the course. Aston Martin suffered in Austria and at Silverstone because its strong point was not cornering fast. But let’s go back: in the second race of the year, in Saudi Arabia, a track full of straights and fast corners where the Silverstone car once again succeeded as the second best car after Red Bull.

There, Mike Krack, Aston Martin Team Principal, and the team emphasized the car’s versatility and were very happy with their car’s response to changes in settings, with their package adapting very well in fast corners. Now, that picture no longer matches today.

With the great progress of Mercedes, who changed half a car from Monaco, abandoning once and for all their ‘zero sidepods’ concept, the Brackley team showed great speed on a circuit full of fast that corner like Great Britain. Not so in Austria, where they are not popular. Then Ferrari improved. And then, McLaren and Williams, although the Grove team will have to confirm their progress with their results in the next rounds.

muscle building components

Aston Martin’s rivals used their greater experience in this development battle and their greater factory strength to keep pushing. Ferrari is the obvious example. The Italian team presented a new package in Barcelona ahead of schedule, after a great effort from the factory. And after that, he again advanced the deadlines to bring another new package to Austria, several weeks earlier than expected. That, for Aston Martin, which until now has been outsourcing the creation of parts for the lack of a large infrastructure where until recently it remained the headquarters, is something that is impossible today. The English team just a few weeks ago started using their massive new factory. It will still take time for the entire process to reach peak productivity and for the design and production chain to run smoothly.

The difference between the big factories and Aston became a point of difference. In Canada, Aston Martin brought a new package that worked in Montreal, but failed in Austria and Great Britain. The Red Bull Ring and Silverstone are not tracks where the green car suits itself. And now, the team must review what happened to see what the next step is. And this is the first, perhaps Aston Martin’s poor performance in these two races is a host of things and not just one in particular.

A host of factors must be studied

This was argued by the Aston Martin Team Principal, Mike Krack: “We have to see if it depends on the track or if it is more genuine in terms of the car’s performance. This is what we will do in the next few days. We have a long days in the future, but it’s something we have to do if we want to improve from where we are now. And I’m confident we’ll get through it.”

“Some of our opponents may jump. We have to see how we lose against some references, if someone joins or we lose”, Crack added.

Now, as part of its growth, Aston Martin faces another challenge, that of figuring out how to avoid getting stuck in development and continue to fight against superpowers like Ferrari and Mercedes. And in that sense, Crack emphasized the importance of having Alonso to continue development.

“It’s an analysis that you have to do, but you have to be careful and take emotions out of the equation. We’ve talked to the drivers for a long time, Fernando has a lot of experience in this field, and he’s also the Big helped us in this situation.”Mike Krack’s revelation.

For his part, The Asturian made it clear on Saturday before the Spanish press at Silverstone that the parity in the group chasing Red Bull is currently such that the characteristics of each track can be important. to change the order weekly in that area of ​​the grill. however, He also dropped that it’s not just about that and Aston Martin has lost performance compared to its rivals. “It doesn’t mean that we are aware that we are underperforming today, compared to the first 4 or 5 races. That is clear and visible to all of us. But we’re doing it,” he said.

Hungarian GP, ​​an important event

In this sense, the Hungarian GP could be important for the Silverstone team to make more conclusions to follow their own path. The layout is completely different from the previous ones, a mousetrap track, the so-called ‘Monaco without walls’. Aston Martin had high hopes for this circuit at the start of the course. First, they pointed to Monaco, the track where Alonso came close to pole position and the victory over Verstappen. And then Hungary. But with the improvement of his rivals or the worst pace shown in the last two rounds, it will be necessary to see how the car fares in the Hungaroring and how his opponents behave.

However, at Aston Martin they are confident in their path. “Patience”, a team member told MD, assuring that better clues and options will come to do it well. Alonso believes the same, as he admitted to MD.

“More tracks where we have the top car? We’ll see, I guess. And even if they don’t come, McLaren will have to claw back a hundred odd points from us. Little by little, let them start…”the Spaniard told MD at Silverstone. In case, Fernando managed to reap the most points possible from the Aston Martin’s excellent start with great perseverance. Like ants, he collects crumbs when winter comes.

2024 car?

Aston Martin will continue to evolve. Only 10 races out of 22 of the entire year have passed. There is still a long way to go and other key factors will interfere with the development of single-seaters, such as the budget ceiling. Aston Martin has developed fewer upgrade packages and therefore should have more money available to invest in the car than Ferrari and Mercedes. The thing is if you are more interested in investing in this car or in building one for 2024, the year in which Aston Martin wants to take another important step forward in its continued growth. That decision can be key. So far, Fernando has left a clue: “Our focus is not on one race. It is long-term. Even on Friday, all of Free Practice 1 was focused on the 2024 car. Just to say where the leader of the whole team is now”.