The Formula 1 champion’s weekend in Imola was full of concerns, as a significant update for his AMR24 did not seem to bring any advantage. Despite his teammate, Lance Stroll, performing better and scoring points for the team, Aston Martin once again brought an update that failed, reminiscent of their unsuccessful F1 campaign in 2023. This time, they started with promise but stumbled due to their update process.
Alonso had an accident during FP3 and was eliminated in Q1 of qualifying. As a result, he chose to start the race from the pits after making significant changes to the car’s setup. Unfortunately, his race did not bring positive results, except for the data collected by the team in the hope of using it to improve their updated AMR24 in future races.
When asked about the lessons learned by Aston Martin from the previous race, Alonso stated, quoted on the official Formula 1 website: “We will need to carefully analyze all the data we collected today and consult with the team to identify any differences between the two cars. We opted for a different setup on my car and we will see if we find a direction for the upcoming races. It was a challenging weekend, especially because qualifying plays a crucial role here. The same will apply in Monaco, so we must aim for a flawless Saturday, as it will certainly make things easier on Sunday,” warned the Spaniard.
This weekend in Imola was atypical for Alonso, who usually maximizes the potential of any car he drives, regardless of its quality. However, he struggled to find his rhythm and is eager to leave this weekend behind. “Yes, it was that kind of weekend,” he commented. “It’s a bit frustrating because during the race you more or less know what to expect. You wait for some unexpected events, like Safety Cars or red flags, that can shake up the race. But today, as usual when starting from the back, it was a monotonous race. We simply completed it,” Alonso concluded.
