Fernando Alonso Hands Out Stern Reality Check to Aston Martin as Drubbing From Lando Norris & Co. Proves Embarrassing

Fernando Alonso, a two-time world champion, brought a wealth of experience and insight to the Silverstone-based team when he switched to Aston Martin this season. Much to the Spaniard’s delight, his arrival coincided with Aston Martin’s meteoric rise up the pecking order. The AMR23 catapulted the team to the position of the second-fastest car on the grid at the start of 2023. It was a significant leap from their seventh-place struggles in the previous season. But it was a leap that fell just short towards the end.

With the 2023 season done and dusted, Fernando Alonso not only reflected on the team’s commendable progress but also pointed out the chinks in their armor that led to a rather disappointing finish to the season in P5 behind McLaren with Lando Norris at the helm. The two-time world champion delivered a no-nonsense reality check to his new team and highlighted the challenges they need to overcome if they are to come out all guns blazing in 2024.

Fernando Alonso sheds light on the major issues that plagued Aston Martin in 2023

The team, elated with their progress in 2023, regressed slightly, grappling for a fourth place against McLaren in the closing stages. The disappointment was evident in Abu Dhabi, where Aston Martin came out 22 points behind McLaren in the Constructors’ Championship. The embarrassment of falling short despite the initial promise prompted Fernando Alonso to shed light on the key weaknesses that need addressing for a more competitive outing in 2024.

“I think we need to find some consistency,” the Spaniard remarked during a post-season press conference, as quoted by total-motorsport.com. “One of the weak points is that the car has to operate in a very narrow window. It is the same for everybody, but it seems that we struggle a little bit. And it will be nice if we can perform always at a stable level next year.”

“Also, we can improve the straight-line speed. Our weak point always is a little bit too slow on the straights. And if we want[ed] to be as fast as the others, we need[ed] to drop too much the rear wing, and then we ended up slowing [down] in the corners as well. So that was probably the loop that we could not get out of this season,” he concluded.

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The 42-year-old veteran also took the opportunity to point out the chances that the team missed on the top step of the podium.

Alonso thinks Aston Martin had a good chance to score a couple of wins

The Spaniard firmly believes that Aston Martin had a legitimate shot at winning both the Monaco and Dutch Grands Prix during the 2023 season. In Monaco, a race notorious for its unpredictability, Fernando Alonso was in a promising position, starting from P2. However, a strategic pit stop for slick tires, as opposed to intermediates like eventual winner Max Verstappen, cost him precious time and dashed the team’s hopes of a podium-topping finish.

Later in the season, at Zandvoort, a rain-hit race provided another window of opportunity for Aston Martin. Alonso pushed Verstappen following a late restart but fell a few seconds short of claiming the top spot. Reflecting on these missed chances, Alonso remarked, “I think [a win] was possible. Probably Monaco was the closest, with a tire call change or something. Maybe Zandvoort if we were in a different position in that restart or something. We probably had opportunities here and there. And yes, I believe that we deserve[d] it more than anyone else this year.”

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The off-season provides a crucial period for Aston Martin to analyze, strategize, and make the necessary adjustments. As the curtain falls on the 2023 season, Formula 1 fans eagerly await the evolution of Aston Martin under the watchful eyes of a two-time world champion, Fernando Alonso.