It is clear that Aston Martin has given the AMR25 a boost this season, and that Fernando Alonso continues to work his magic with his car. Such is his level and superiority that what he has achieved in the last four races seems easy, especially in Canada, where he achieved his best result, but the truth is that he continues to place the car much higher than expected.
Alonso, at full throttle
Fernando Alonso is proving that his ambition and level on the track are far below the age on his ID card. When the Aston Martin was crawling around the track, the Oviedo native got it into the fight in the middle of the pack, grazing the points zone with a car that was destined to finish last. Now that the team has managed to improve the car, he has made it into Q3 in all four races with the new parts and has scored points in the last two races. But you only have to look at Lance Stroll’s performance, where his best result in the last few Grand Prix races has been fifteenth, finishing last in Canada, one of the tracks that best suits the AMR25.
But Fernando Alonso, after the race, while expressing satisfaction with the result, warned of the real situation of the AMR25.
“It seems like a habit to be in the points now, but that’s because we’re doing well in qualifying. If we hadn’t finished sixth on the grid in Canada, we might not have finished in the points. There were some really fast cars in the race, the Williams, the Haas, surprisingly Ocon was up there and also Hulkenberg, who came out of nowhere to fight for the points. If we start 12th or 13th, we’re not going to score points. We’re on a fine line between scoring points and not. Lately, the qualifying and the races have gone well for us, but we can’t take anything for granted, we have to keep working.”
Aston Martin and Sundays
Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin confirm the obvious: the AMR25 lacks race pace. The current aerodynamics have a lot of room for improvement, and that negatively affects top speed and tire wear. When the tires are at full performance, it can maintain a high pace, but when they start to degrade, the car reveals its shortcomings, which are not few.
“When I had new tires or tires in good condition, I stuck to Hamilton’s DRS. But when I started to get a little graining, it was free fall. We tried to hold on a little longer before the first pit stop because if I stopped so early, I would have fallen almost to the back of the group. In the end, I fell anyway because I lost a lot of time with the graining.”
“The weakest point is Sunday. There are races where we are two or three tenths behind the top teams on Saturday, but then on Sunday we finish a minute behind them. We have to improve on Sundays, no matter what.”
Alonso is confident that the team will continue to evolve
Fernando Alonso is now enjoying a great moment after a poor start to the season. It is encouraging for him to see that he can finish in the points with Aston Martin, but he insists on the problems with the car and hopes they can be resolved soon.
“Well, you surely have another incentive for the races to pick up points here and there. Although we had Canada on the calendar as the most favorable race for us and for our aerodynamic package. When you get to those races, you can’t afford to fail and get zero points, because in Austria or Silverstone we’re going to have to suffer a little more. In Canada we did our job well, we ticked the box, now we’re going to Austria and Silverstone with a little more caution because we think they’re going to be more difficult circuits. Although at the same time, at Silverstone we might have some improvements and we’re keen to experiment.”