Do you recall the start of the 2023 season where Aston Martin, who were backmarkers in 2022, came out as the closest team to the dominant Red Bull, with Fernando Alonso featuring on the podium next to the Red Bull drivers? The team fell through the cracks midway through the season as their upgrades didn’t work as intended and finished the season as the 5th fastest team. The start of 2024 isn’t what the Silverstone-based team was expecting, as Lawrence Stroll is now warned by an Aston Martin insider to stop the development.

Aston Martin’s 2024 competitor, the AMR24, was a significant upgrade in terms of the changes made to the car. The team had changed its philosophy and developed a new car that seemed to be inspired by the RB19. However, on track, since the testing began, the performance was nothing to write home about, and the same was translated onto the track in the first few rounds. 

Learning from 2023, the team has stepped up its upgrade game and brought major upgrades to the Japanese GP, followed by even more changes at the Imola GP. Unfortunately, the upgrades haven’t really seemed to work as the team is stuck in the position of being the 5th best team and is being caught up by the likes of VCARB, Alpine, and Sauber. The upgrades are believed to improve the car’s performance, but there’s a catch. Fernando Alonso has been vocal about how the upgrades at Imola made the car very difficult to drive.

A car is only as good as the driver in it. Even if the upgrades are bringing performance, if the drivers aren’t able to extract that performance, they’re as good as useless. And something on the same lines is what Michael Schmidt from AMuS was told by an Aston Martin insider. Schmidt revealed how he was told that the downforce from the upgrades could not be translated onto the track. The insider suggested that Aston Martin should stop upgrading the car and focus on its drivability. Fernando Alonso had loads of difficulties with the upgraded AMR24 at the Imola and Monaco GP and has now given a wake-up call to his team.

Fernando Alonso’s “Big Wake Up Call” to Aston Martin

Fernando Alonso had a major moment in FP3 at Imola as he crashed into the last corner. During the qualifying, he went through the gravel again, which affected his car’s performance, and he started the race from the pitlane. Such mistakes from an experienced driver like Alonso are uncharacteristic and during the Imola GP interviews, Alonso revealed how the car felt difficult to drive. Monaco wasn’t a great weekend either, as both Aston Martins spent time fighting at the back of the grid.

Speaking after the Monaco GP, Fernando Alonso said, “These two weekends have been crucial, to understand our weaknesses, to understand the car, to improve. In difficulties, you always draw more conclusions than in victories, in which all the problems with euphoria go more unnoticed. We are learning a lot for the rest of the year, 2025, 2026. These two races have been a big wake-up call and it will be very good for the team.”

Do you think Aston Martin will be able to find the performance and get back in the fight for the podium? Let us know in the comments.