Alonso, a day to forget with an Aston Martin that did not bear fruit: he will start at the end of the tail

Fernando Alonso fail to pass Q1 in the classification of GP of Emilia-Romagna of F1 2024. Aston Martin came with a lot of evolution in Imola, like the other teams, who want to continue improving and closing the gap that separates them from the cars at the top, but the weekend will not go the green team’s way. And this was confirmed on a very complicated black Saturday, where Fernando Alonso He suffered two off-track runs and finished 19th (just ahead of Sargeant) in the qualifying session. It’s strange that Alonso failed twice on the same day. It is a clear sign that the car is very difficult to drive. Aston Martin still has a lot to improve.

Broken car and repair against the clock

The day went wrong in Free Practice 3, with an accident on the wall after the car lost its rear at Rivazza. The car was badly damaged and it was further aggravated by the slowness of towing the car into the pit. The team had 2 and a quarter hours to fix the car and did it ‘in extremis’.

Another track exit in Q1

Alonso entered qualifying without tuning that car in Free Practice 3, without finding the best balance and settings. He came out more blind than others, with less certainty, with a need to push. And he went to it.

When he was 16th, he had to attack with 7 minutes left in Q1. He went to everyone. I will try. And he started the lap maximizing his options, with a great slipstream from Norris on the straight. His times were very good, but he left the track and entered the gravel at high speed, definitely damaging the bottom of the car, the part of the car that provides the most aerodynamic load.

He wanted to try again and without time to fix the car he went out on the track again, but he had to abort his attempt. The Aston Martin gives the impression that it is a very difficult car to drive, and it was very strange to see Fernando Alonso leave the track twice in two consecutive sessions. Aston Martin has a lot of work ahead of it. Unlike other teams, which have improved with their latest evolutions, such as McLaren in Miami and Ferrari in Imola, it seems that the green team did not find the performance sought after in the car immediately.