Fernando Alonso’s 400th Grand Prix was not completed as the two-time F1 champion deserved, as he had to retire in the early stages of the race due to a brake cooling problem. However, that’s just anecdotal in Aston Martin’s current context. What worries the green team more is the lack of evolution of the green car, which also did not take the desired steps in the new updates presented last week in the United States.
Aston Martin has had a great start to 2023, with a great car from the start in which Alonso could shine, fighting for podiums and coming close to the desired victory several times, but the evolutions throughout year did not bear fruit. For this reason, the Silverstone team started 2024 with the clear goal of building a car that they were sure they could improve throughout the year. That’s what the green box said in the AMR24 presentation.
However, the green car, which started the season leading the central zone, was overtaken by teams such as RB, Haas (The Ferrari customer from whom it buys all the parts allowed by the regulations) and by Williams in many races while Aston Martin was still underdeveloped.
Hungary’s improvements, which should have been an important step forward, did not work. So, the team preferred to study the problem in detail and wait a little longer to make their latest evolutionary package of the year, which arrives in Austin.
As a sprint event, with only some free practice, we have to wait for Mexico to draw more conclusions. But as revealed by the team’s Team Principal Mike Krack, they decided to return with some of the new features after a comparative analysis of the parts in the Mexican Free Practice.something that is not a good sign for the goal that Aston Martin has: to improve at the end of the year to lead the middle zone again and finish in an upward line to have clear ideas to hit the head with the 2025 car .
“We are pushing, but so are the other 9 teams. We have to do better, try to make cars with improvements and work immediately. This is something we must improve. And we have to make a step in the car next year and start better than we did this season. And in the remaining races we have to optimize the car as much as possible,” Krack declared on ‘DAZN’, making a self-criticism.
And there came the news: “On Friday we had the aerodynamic elements and two different configurations, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, to try to understand all the differences. And the truth is that we didn’t keep everything. those part we put in Austin we kept some pieces, but others we had to go back.”
And with only 4 races left, with a budget limit that all teams must adhere to by regulation, and with the clear priority of creating the 2025 car and thinking about changing the regulation in 2026 , Mike gave a glimpse of what to expect, which should be no news in the final races of the year: “More improvements? We have to analyze and see what we can do and the budget ceiling is also there, and we also don’t want to be distracted by next year’s car.”
“It’s important that we take a step forward with the car. It’s a complicated balance. Let’s see what we have, what we can do and what about the development of the car next year and if it can apply to the car this year to maximize it at the end of the season,” he concluded. There is too much doubt to suggest that nothing new is coming.
Among the possible reasons for the car’s poor performance, there is speculation that Aston Martin was too aggressive with its 2024 concept car and that the problems were basic, something that could explain part of the reasons why they did not achieve Evolve your vehicle sufficiently. to keep up with your rivals. Aston Martin has made it clear that the priority is 2025the last year of the current regulations. Fernando believes in the team’s ability to react for next season and expressed hope that his car will be better in the next rounds.
“It was a useful weekend because of all the tests we did that left us with conclusions that we should consider.. We hope to come back strong and have better performances,” commented Alonso on ‘DAZN’.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
