The Spanish Grand Prix, like Imola and Monaco, was very complicated for Fernando Alonso, who finished outside the points and asked his team to work harder and make fewer promises, referring to the latest improvements announced, which at the moment of truth did not bear fruit on the track. The Asturian is preparing to suffer again this weekend in Austria and next in Silverstone, although the Aston Martin technicians see the ‘light at the end of the tunnel’. He is confident that recovery will come after the summer.
Alonso has only scored points in one of the last four events on the calendar (Canada). And Aston Martin has gone from being the fifth force on the grid to being stalked by teams from the bottom of the table. The update package introduced in Imola did not work and those at Silversrtone are losing the development race alarmingly, while others that started worse, such as Alpine, are moving forward.
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In Barcelona Alonso set a deadline: “I hope it starts a new World Cup in Hungary”, he said. Today, in Spielberg, the Asturian qualified his message: “I hope the next update works, hopefully, but I’m not a technician. We are where we are and we want to change it and improve it as soon as possible”has warned.
Fernando joins his team’s motto: calm and work: “ There is no magic solution from one day to the next, so we have to work hard.” Looking at his prospects this weekend in Austria, he assures that “nothing will change. If we are lucky, we will fight for some points. We can’t be disappointed“This is where we are.”
Regarding the news of the day at Aston Martin, the renewal of his teammate Stroll, Alonso values it positively: “Lance has spent many years on this team. He has spent almost his entire racing career at Aston Martin. I personally feel very good this year. and a half that we have been working together. “I think his knowledge of what the team is like on the inside is very helpful to me as well.”
Krack: “We have understood the problem of the car”
Mike Krack, Alonso’s team boss admits that they were already expecting problems at the Circuit de Barcelona, but insists that there is room for improvement, with more than half the championship and the summer break ahead: “We knew that Barcelona would be one of the most difficult tracks , although we were missing thousandths to enter Q3. That gave us hope, but it was not justified. Expectations were confirmed. It is a circuit that does not forgive, we know where we are and we have to fix it,” he acknowledges.
“Five races await us in six weeks. After Monaco, Imola and Canada we have already understood what is happening to this car and it’s a matter of fixing it, but we don’t have time at this stage of the season. Meanwhile, we must achieve the best possible results, as we did in Montreal,” says Krack.
“The results in the wind tunnel are encouraging. Mercedes needed several races from when they introduced the improvements until they got on the podium. They were at our competitive level at the beginning of the season and now they are ahead. We see the differences they have achieved in terms of lap time. This shows, as with McLaren’s progress in 2023 and 2024, that it is possible. But it’s not automatic“You have to work hard and take steps forward,” says the Aston Martin boss.
“Sometimes it takes time, but we are still a growing team. In general, the important thing in this situation is to stay calm, focus on our problems and work,” adds Krack, who expects to suffer in Austra, but less than in Spain: “The Red Bull Ring is a somewhat different circuit, you have more straights and DRS, short corners and also a couple of long corners. I don’t think it will be as hard for us as Barcelona,” he predicts.
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In the same line, Aston Martin performance director Tom McCullough, is optimistic and believes that they have “all the potential” to improve the car more than in previous years. He considers that the AMR24 is more flexible in terms of development: “Our car, in features, DRS efficiency, is a world different compared to last year, but it doesn’t matter much, because everyone has improved, it is a relative improvement. “We are pushing very hard in the new factory, in the delivery time of some of the parts we are beginning to see the benefits of it.”
“I think, between now and the end of the season, we have every potential to make several relative gains compared to what we’ve been able to do in the past. We know what we’re trying to achieve, it’s pretty tough and that’s what fundamental, both from a mechanical and aerodynamic point of view”, McCulloug ditches, aware, like Krack, that If after the summer they do not manage to turn the situation around, heads may roll en Silverstone.
2024-06-27 15:17:14
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