Fernando Alonso has lamented Aston Martin’s position in the Formula 1 pecking order with the team struggling to keep the upper hand on its midfield rivals.
The Silverstone-based outfit was the fifth-fastest team in the first part of the season but the AMR24’s upgrades have not delivered the expected performance gains so far.
While at least one Aston reached Q3 in each of the first seven qualifying sessions of the season (including sprint qualifying), it happened just five times in the next 12.
In terms of Sunday results, Aston scored 42 points in the first six rounds, 26 in the next six but just six in the latest four.
Alonso and team-mate Lance Stroll qualified respectively 11th and 17th for the Italian Grand Prix last weekend and were bracing for a tough race.
While the top four teams were out of reach again, the two-time world champion finished just outside the points, two tenths away from a penalised Kevin Magnussen and just over one second off ninth-placed Alexander Albon.
Alonso confessed to feeling somewhat powerless trying to get the best of a midfield car but doesn’t want to settle for a fight with smaller outfits.
“Of course, nothing we can do,” the Spaniard said. “We are in our team's hands, and I think Lance and myself, we’re trying to do the best we can every weekend. One inspired weekend, like this one from my side, I know it's going to be 'completely anonymous Monza 2024 from Alonso'.
“But I think this year we've been – Lance and myself – very close, and [in Monza] it was one of those weekends that I was a little bit better and I was happy with the car and pushing to the level that maybe was beyond 100% and that was P11, so disappointed on that.
"We need to be patient. We need to understand that the big target is 2026. But at the same time, I think as a team, we could accept not being in the top four battle - they are top teams and they are well in front of us. But now to be behind Williams, behind Haas, behind [RB], I think we need to raise the bar a little bit. We need to get better.”
Alonso’s Italian Grand Prix was “much better than expected” by his own admission, with “really good” race execution.
“We got lucky with the start – very good start, we overtook Nico [Hulkenberg],” he commented. “And then we were running tenth, close to Alex Albon.
“We kept the pace surprisingly with the Williams, so happy with that. And then we undercut him, so we were running ninth for the majority of the race [actually fewer than ten laps].
“We opted for two stops – we could not make it on one with our tyre degradation. It is very painful to lose the points because I think we deserve it, in a way, with a well-executed race. But the car is what it is at the moment, and we need to get better.”
Alonso doesn’t expect Aston’s performance to get significantly better in the near future, but he will eagerly wait for the AMR24’s next updates.
“[As long as] we don't have an upgrade on the car, this is what it is and this is not good enough,” he insisted. “Not good enough in Monza. Not good in Zandvoort, in Spa, in Hungary. So I don't think there's going to be a big change in Baku, Singapore or Austin unless we bring new parts. That's the plan.”
