Fernando Alonso (ESP) Aston Martin F1 Team. 19.10.2023. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 19, United States Grand Prix, Austin, Texas, USA, Preparation Day.
Fernando Alonso contends that Aston Martin is currently enjoying a better Formula 1 season than McLaren, pointing out that his team remains ahead in the championship.
Aston Martin started the year as Red Bull’s closest challenger, enabling Alonso to notch six podium finishes across the opening eight races, but he has only added one since.
Having struggled initially to even score points, McLaren’s season was transformed by the introduction of a revised car in Austria that has propelled the team to the sharp end.
Double podiums at the last two rounds have seen the Woking squad heavily outscore Aston Martin, slashing the deficit to only 11 points in the Constructors’ standings.
Although it appears inevitable that McLaren will seize fourth – potentially as early as this weekend – Alonso insists that he is not “disappointed” with Aston Martin’s results.
“I think after last winter, what this team have done with the change between ’22 and ’23 I hope we can do something similar,” Alonso said ahead of the United States Grand Prix.
“So if it’s very different to this one, and it’s as fast as we started the season, I will be happy.
“I think it’s normal that now you see McLaren and some teams made a huge step forward and you may feel disappointed with our results and, I see that point, but we are not on that page.”
The two-time champion believes that Aston Martin’s position compared to last year and current advantage over McLaren showcases that its plight has been overblown.
“We are super proud of this 2023, 197 points more at this point this year than last year, which is something incredible,” he added.
“And yeah, even if you stop someone now in the paddock and you ask which one had a better season? Until now Aston Martin or McLaren, 99% of the people will say McLaren, they are 11 points behind. So, you know, until now, actually, we had a better season than them because we’re still 11 points ahead.
“But it’s true that the final race is where it counts and, what stays in your head and, and this final couple of weekends, we are not up to speed.
“They’ve been better than us in terms of developing the car, so we need to accept that, but 2024 is going to be a different thing.”
Fernando Alonso (ESP) Aston Martin F1 Team AMR23. 23.09.2023. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 17, Japanese Grand Prix, Suzuka, Japan, Qualifying Day
This weekend’s Circuit of the Americas venue consists of a range of low, medium and high-speed corners, providing a test for the drivers to set their respective cars up.
But Alonso asserts the intervention of the Sprint format, mandating only one practice hour before parc ferme conditions are in operation, will be the greater challenge.
The Spaniard suspects that will be magnified this weekend by Aston Martin looking to optimise upgrades to its AMR23 charger.
Asked if it would be tough to identify an ideal set-up for the weekend on Friday, Alonso replied: “No, it should not be too difficult.
“I think the biggest challenge for us is as you saw, the Sprint format. You only have FP1, so a couple of laps where you need to set up the car and then make further decisions between FP1 and qualifying which are normally just a guess that everything will work fine.
“Something that may work fine for qualifying one lap, it doesn’t fit for the race on Sunday, but you need to guess all these compromises. “So this is the challenge that we face. It is the same for everybody, but yeah, let’s see if we can have it right this time.
“The Sprint weekends have been good for us so far. It’s not that we are struggling in terms of finding the set-up.
“We have some new parts as well this race, like most of the others. Everybody is trying to bring upgrades to the car and then you only have one session, so not enough to optimise everything.”
Keyword: Alonso: Aston Martin have had ‘better season’ than McLaren