Fernando Alonso has once again enjoyed driving the Aston Martin. He demonstrated this both in qualifying and in the race, where, in addition to finishing seventh in the Canadian Grand Prix, he was satisfied with his performance. So much so that he did not hesitate to ask for more, noting that he is still as hungry as if he were fighting for the title.
The Aston Martin’s performance has improved, but there are still weaknesses
Even so, and despite the good result for the team and the Spanish driver, the Asturian was also self-critical of the AMR25’s performance during the race. His analysis after crossing the finish line was clear: “The race went well, although the race pace wasn’t as good as yesterday. We also have to improve that,” he said.
The fact is that, for the moment, although the car has shown a more than interesting leap in quality since the last four races, the car’s best performance stands out on Saturday, not Sunday. Alonso now feels more connected to the car, but it is in the race when those good feelings diminish.
This was evident in Barcelona, where the Asturian had some pace issues on Sunday, and also in Montreal. However, the characteristics of the track, combined with the skill and talent of the Oviedo native, masked some of these weaknesses, which, for the moment, still persist.
Alonso urges improvement in race pace and degradation
This is where Fernando has insisted and urged his team to continue with this high-flying progression (he has now had four consecutive Q3s and two weekends in a row in the points), but they must also correct a weakness that has been dragging them down since the beginning of the year: the drop in performance when the car goes more than 15 laps on the same set of tires.
Alonso arrived at Gilles Villeneuve last Thursday with the aim of seeing if the step forward in developments was confirmed. At Imola, Alonso was able to finish fifth in qualifying and, as Cowell said, the car had improved “in every corner.” But the question remained as to whether this was a one-off, on a very bumpy circuit where it was difficult to draw conclusions. In addition, Alonso had set his time by taking advantage of the fact that the medium tire was better than the soft tire on one lap, which could have hidden the true performance of the car.
There, in Imola, Cowell already pointed out that despite the step forward, there were still things to improve, such as race pace and tire degradation. And Alonso realized that the significant problem of lack of top speed had not been resolved, forcing him to look for overtaking opportunities in more unusual places instead of getting them on the straights with DRS. In addition, after qualifying, Fernando said that the car was still difficult to drive at the limit.
“If we start 12th or 13th, we’re not going to score points.”
So Alonso himself reaffirmed in an interview with the newspaper AS that the car’s progress is working, but the key lies in the brilliant qualifying results: “It seems like a habit now to be in the points, but it’s because we’re qualifying well. 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 front and also Hulkenberg, who came out of nowhere fighting,” he said.
“If we start 12th or 13th, we’re not going to score points. We’re on a fine line between scoring and not scoring. Lately, the qualifying and the races have gone well for us, but we can’t take anything for granted, we have to keep working,” said the Spaniard.
The two-time world champion emphasizes that the car’s pace in the race is still insufficient. “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,” he said of his strategy in Montreal. “We tried to hold on before the first pit stop, but in the end, I fell back anyway.”
Looking ahead to the immediate future, Alonso is focusing on the next challenges on the calendar. Austria and Silverstone are shaping up to be less favorable circuits for Aston Martin, although new improvements from the factory could arrive at the British track. In any case, he is calling for improvements on Sundays “no matter what.”