Aston Martin’s rise is quite similar to Mercedes. A huge investment was made in a mediocre team, which led to success in both cases. Mercedes went on to dominate for 8 years and Aston Martin looks ready to become the next dominant team. Nevertheless, let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. Fernando Alonso recently explained Aston Martin’s expectations for 2023 and how the reality has pleasantly surprised them. As a result, the hype train picked up some more speed with 2024 looking more optimistic than ever.

After finishing 7th in the constructor’s championship last season, finishing in the upper half of the constructors would’ve been Aston Martin’s goal. However, ever since the Force India days, the team is known for punching above its weight. With the signing of Dan Fallows, Aston Martin leapfrogged many. Aston Martin’s start to 2023 took everyone by surprise as they beat the likes of Ferrari and Mercedes. The AMR23 being 95% new compared to last year’s car makes for more scope for improvement.

Fernando Alonso finished all three races so far on the podium with Aston Martin 2nd in the constructors. Alonso explained how he was hoping 2023 to be a learning season, with 2024 being the season to challenge for podiums. However, the team is already doing so. The only thing left to be seen is how things pan out after all the teams arrive with their huge upgrade packages in the upcoming races. Regardless, if Aston Martin is able to learn enough from the AMR23, then nothing can stop them from contending for the 2024 championship.

According to Autosport.com, Fernando Alonso said, “I was hoping 2023 to be a learning season and in 2024 maybe to be challenging Ferrari and Mercedes and things like that. But we challenged them in Bahrain in race one so obviously now everything looks more optimistic. From Baku, Imola, Barcelona, the teams will start to bring upgrades to the car and we need to also be a top team in that regard. On-track, but also off-track we need to learn many things throughout this season to be a contender in 2024 hopefully.”

Aston Martin’s hype train hasn’t slowed down one bit and is running faster than ever. With a new state-of-the-art factory and the wind tunnel on the horizon, one can only expect things to get better from here. Nevertheless, it does take some time to adjust to running at the front as compared to the midfield, something which is happening at Aston Martin. Fernando Alonso revealed the change in approach that his team had to take to cater to its newfound pace.

Fernando Alonso on Aston Martin changing its approach toward a weekend 

Tires, strategy, the timing of going out on track, everything changes when a team becomes a front-runner. One has to think about the risks of a safety car or crash as there’s a lot more to lose.

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Fernando Alonso explained how Aston changed its approach and looks more towards the top teams rather than worrying about those behind. The knowledge that they will make it through Q1 and Q2 also changes the way they manage tires.

According to Autosport.com, Fernando Alonso said, “We approach weekends now looking more to the top teams and that changed our approach a little bit in FP1. It changed our tire selections for qualifying, the runs you do in qualifying. You don’t really need to get too crazy because you know that you will go through Q1 and Q2. Yes, it’s changed a lot and it makes things a little bit easier, so happy with that.”

Watch this Story: How Aston Martin F1 Turned Around From a Struggling Mid-Field Team to Being the 2nd Fastest in 2023

What do you make of Aston Martin’s rise and the hype-train? Can they challenge the Red Bulls next year or perhaps by the end of this year?