Aston Martin have found themselves in a slump after an astronomical start to the season, but the team simply aren’t worried as they are far above where they expected to be in 2023.
In the first eight races, Aston Martin took home six podiums. Considering that the team finished no higher than P6 in 2022, it’s a substantial jump. But Austria and Silverstone saw them sliding towards the back end of the top 10.
Are Aston Martin losing the development race? Maybe, but Fernando Alonso isn’t worried in the slightest.
“I’m not too stressed about development,” Alonso told the media. “The car is better than expected this year. We are fighting for things that we could probably never dream at the beginning of the year.
“If we can keep in the top 10 and fighting with the top guys, it’s great. But I think we have to focus on the long-term picture. We cannot get stressed every weekend if we are seventh, or fourth, or on the podium. We need to be very pragmatic and very relaxed about our performance.”
At Silverstone, the team were aware that the track didn’t complement the AMR23’s characteristics before they even set foot on the track thanks to its high-speed corners. Though Alonso acknowledged that part of their slump is due in part to being “out-developed”, but there are a variety of other factors.
“Probably is a little bit of everything,” he said. “Out-developed a little bit in terms of a few teams brought some significant upgrades lately. Track specific, I think here was not our best layout for the package we have.
“We need to see also the tyres, obviously the first race that we have this new construction. So things that maybe we need to analyse more in detail but, all in all, I think we saved a very difficult weekend. Hopefully in Hungary we are again competitive.”
When pressed about what he meant by form being track specific, Alonso elaborated: “I think Lando [Norris] was P6 here in Silverstone last year. [Nicholas] Latifi was P10 here last year. So let’s see in Abu Dhabi.
“But two races ago in Canada we were fighting for the win, so it’s not that the first races we were on the podium and then we step back. Three weeks ago we were fighting in Canada for the win, so I’m relaxed.”
The good news for Aston Martin is that new parts are arriving at each of the next three races, according to team boss, Mike Krack.
