Fernando Alonso of the Aston Martin F1 team spoke during the FIA Press Conference on February 28, 2024. He discussed the team’s new approach in an attempt to avoid the same problems faced last season. Alonso’s move from Alpine to Aston Martin coincided with the team’s strong start to the season, where they achieved six podium finishes in the first eight races. However, they struggled with ineffective upgrades and dropped to fifth place in the standings. Now, Aston Martin is focused on evolving their AMR24 car to remain competitive in the highly competitive development race. Alonso believes it will take a few races to accurately assess where Aston Martin stands compared to Red Bull. He acknowledges that the Bahrain Grand Prix circuit has unique characteristics that may not provide a clear performance graph. Therefore, the team will need to wait and see how they perform in the first races before determining their order of competitiveness.
In the world of motorsport, Aston Martin faced a challenging season in the past. However, according to Alonso, the team gained valuable insights from their previous campaign that will help them in their championship pursuit. He believes their approach in 2023 was different, starting with a solid foundation that surprised them with its effectiveness. However, they faced difficulties off the track in terms of car development and other aspects. Nevertheless, they learned significant lessons throughout the year.
Looking to the future of 2024, Alonso expresses optimism. Aston Martin starts the season with a solid foundation and has numerous plans in place for the rest of the year. The team’s ability to maintain the pace of car development and compete with the top teams will be a crucial aspect to monitor. Last year, they fell short of expectations in that regard, but they are determined to improve and meet those standards.
