With the update at the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort, Aston Martin has apparently made a leap forward after three difficult race weekends. Fernando Alonso found this out after qualifying in fifth place: “The data confirms that the update works as expected after the wind tunnel. It’s a step forward.”
“Fifth place,” he says, “is also due to the extra performance we had because of the update. My thanks to the staff because even though we had four races in July, they worked flat out to produce these parts. There was a break in August, so we couldn’t do anything. July was all the more intense.”
Specifically, a new underbody was introduced on the AMR23: the floor panel, underbody edges, side profiles and the diffuser were completely revised for the season after the summer break. “A step in the right direction,” as Alonso says, in view of the battle for second place in the Constructors’ Championship.
Aston Martin recently fell behind. The team is still in 3rd place, five points ahead of Ferrari and even a reassuring 93 points ahead of McLaren. But Mercedes are already 51 points clear of Aston Martin and lately the gap has seemed to be widening rather than narrowing.
Alonso’s bold predictions that he dares to finish on the podium in every race have long been forgotten. Since Spielberg, Aston Martin has lost ground dramatically, accumulating just 42 points. For comparison: Red Bull scored 182 points in the same period, McLaren 86, Mercedes 80 and even Ferrari 69.
“There’s still more to come,” says Alonso. “Our opponents are strong. McLaren, even Williams this weekend. That shows how close things are. But we understand a few things better now that went wrong in the past few races and we’re back on track. That’s an interesting one Realization. Also with a view to next year.”
“There were a few areas where we weren’t good enough,” says Alonso and lists: “Traction, grip in the corners. Now it’s better again. The car performs better, but above all the data shows that the update brought something. This confirms that what we test in the wind tunnel can be translated to the track. And that is very important for the future.”
Teammate Lance Stroll, however, did not make it into Zandvoort Q3. He failed in Q2 by 0.054 seconds because of the P10 time of Williams driver Logan Sargeant. “We went out a bit too early with the last set of Inters. When the track dried out and was at its best, I was already on my third lap. The peak of the tires was over by then,” said the Canadian annoyed.
But: “I have a good feeling in the car and I think we can drive a good race. In Q1 I was comfortably seventh. In Q2 things went well at the beginning too. But in the end we were just off the mark. I think that car was competitive in the wet. I felt comfortable and think I could have done better.”