An upbeat Fernando Alonso highlights positive indications for Aston Martin despite a challenging F1 2024 season, including their advancements, upcoming wind tunnel, and intriguingly, the performance of McLaren and Mercedes. When the Spaniard made the switch from Alpine to Lawrence Stroll’s team in 2023, it seemed like a brilliant move as his new crew secured six podium finishes in the first eight races. However, one year later, the situation looks significantly different at the 2024 Belgian GP.
As the 42-year-old prepares for his latest race at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, he finds himself in ninth place in the standings and considerably behind Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari, and Mercedes in terms of pace. Even if his points tally were tripled, he would only have ten more points than his rival from the previous season, Lewis Hamilton. This demonstrates just how far behind Aston Martin is. Nevertheless, Alonso remains optimistic about the team’s future.
“Yes, definitely,” Alonso responded to media, including Total-Motorsport.com, when asked if the upgrades have benefitted the team. “We are now a bit more at ease following the Budapest upgrade. In terms of what lies ahead and what will be implemented in the future… Perhaps the team now possesses a better understanding of where to optimize performance while ensuring safety, resulting in improved lap times and a faster car. Therefore, this upgrade was crucial for us and it yielded the expected results. It certainly boosted our confidence.”
However, for someone of Alonso’s age, one year is a significant period of time to catch up and merely approach the level of Mercedes and Ferrari, who appear to be well behind McLaren and Red Bull. This is especially true considering that Alonso is in the twilight of his F1 career. Is he frustrated by the lost year? Surprisingly, the answer is no. Alonso points to his F1 rivals as examples of how quickly his team can potentially turn things around, even if it is more likely to happen in 2025 rather than 2024.
“Both Mercedes this year and McLaren last year have demonstrated that it is possible to bridge a substantial gap to the leaders,” Alonso added. “Mercedes was competing with Haas for four races and now they have won two Grand Prixs. McLaren was struggling to make it out of Q1 at the start of last year, and yet they were fighting for victories. So, it is possible, but it ultimately depends on us. It is up to the team to comprehend the upgrades, identify the key components of the car that contribute to performance, and determine how to extract that performance. We have the necessary resources, and the wind tunnel will likely be ready by the end of the year, so there are a couple of individuals who will be focusing on this.”
While discussions about the future are promising and look appealing on paper, if Aston Martin has already written off 2024 as a year dedicated to research and development, there is no fast-forward button for Alonso. He will still have to get in the car and endure the final 11 races and Sprint Races.
As Aston Martin strives to break free from being dragged into the battle between Haas and RB for lower points and to narrow the 172-point gap to Mercedes, what are Alonso’s personal goals and the team’s objectives?
“My motivation is to hope for a strong second half of the year, which means having a consistent car in Q3 and consistently finishing in the top 10,” Alonso emphasized. “We have experienced ups and downs. Unfortunately, in Barcelona, we were not the fifth fastest team, and in Austria, we performed quite poorly, ranking as the seventh or eighth fastest team. I hope to avoid a repeat of those situations. I aim to be in the upper echelon of the midfield, just behind the top four teams, and gradually close the gap to them. It may be challenging this year since there aren’t many upgrades expected for anyone, but we need to find the right direction and pave the way for next year. This second half of the year is crucial in maintaining momentum for 2025, and it serves as the primary motivation for both myself and the entire team.”
