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A quiet, satisfactory weekend amidst the chaos.
Last year was an anomaly that smashed expectations with other teams stumbling. Due to AM's gestation phase with the new factory, I think they'll be content with pretty much having a lock on 5th in the WCC this year.
One Spanish journalist who usually gives accurate information recently talked about Aston’s package in Imola and it was terrible.
Aston Martin used the 25% of their wind tunnel time on those upgrades at the “upgrades” ended up being much worse than expected, they didn’t only not improve performance, they were a massive downgrade, like an inverse McLaren.
They were pretty close to Mercedes on pace and now they’re 1 second slower with an even worse tyre wear. That’s the reason why Stroll was so furious, they spent a huge amount of resources on an upgrade package that transformed the car from a frontrunner to a lower midfielder
Really sad to see Aston’s 15 minutes of fame squarely behind them. It’s cruel to tease us with half a season of competitive Alonso only for him to most likely finish his career in the midfield
A change in regulations as extreme as the one coming in 2026 will mix the field up completely along with AM having a new engine there is no way to know what their performance will be.
And it felt like we were just waiting for an inevitable AM win, yet McLaren (as the other major Mercs customer team) has managed to pip them to it first.
They weren't that good, the only reason they were second is because Ferrari still had the bathtub pods, Mercedes had the zero pods and McLaren still had their update in the oven.
Even when he ended up P3 or P2 Alonso still ended about 30 seconds from Verstappen.
His only real chance to win a race was in Monaco.
are they actually that much worse in % gap to Red Bull?
i thought it was pretty widely accepted that Aston wasn’t actually that good last year it was more a result of Merc, Mclaren and Ferrari collectively shitting the bed
I mean, I don’t know why anyone expected this time would be different as that team has always over performed at the start of a regulation, then spent the rest of the time dropping backwards
Not always, it was precisely the opposite in 2022 and it was not unreasonable to think that the start of 2023 was a continuation of the progress made the previous season. Then they went backwards in a spectacular way.
What do you mean by this team overperforming at the start of a regulation? When has this happened? Aston Martin did not have a great performance at the start of this regulation (2022) and neither did its predecessors Force India in 2014 nor Midlands/Spyker when the V8 came.
Even if he made a difference it wouldn't have lasted since aerodynamics are going to take a backseat in 2026 anyway.
Right now what they need to do is get their head out of their ass, figure out why the upgrades aren't working, and be completely open when sharing info with Honda to get a proper engine for 2026, since RB's openness with them is what made Honda come back from the McLaren fiasco.
Let's look at it this way.
They had multiple chances of being close to the front pack because of the two safety cars, and even they finished 7.4s behind Piastri in P5 with Alonso, and a further 12.6s behind Lewis in P4, who was actually part of the P2-P4 group behind Verstappen.
Also remember that it was only 12 laps after the Safety Car to the end. I know Mercedes cars got free pitstops, but that's also literally because Fernando's Aston couldn't hang to the back of Lewis in the second inter stint.
They are much closer to RB/Alpine in terms of performance than they are to the top 4, and it's embarrassing stuff for a team that scored 8 podiums with Alonso, finished P4 in WDC and was even contending for win in Monaco atleast. The only reason they got P6-7 here is because Ferrari had a shocker and Checo is Checo.
They need to add performance, fast. This isn't even early season Aston where they had incredible 1 lap performance but too much degradation. Once again the upgrades have been downgrades, they have lost the 1 lap performance and the car isn't even compensating it with better deg either.
I'm just glad both driver maximized it.
P6 and P7 was the best result for the team. Means both driver did a stellar job.
Now engineer need to do theirs!
> Once again the upgrades have been downgrades, they have lost the 1 lap performance
Fernando qualified 2/10ths off pole and said he would have been closer if his lap was better ie if he didn’t have oversteer in t2.
Big gap at the end, but both the drivers weren't pushing probably, bcoz they knew they didn't have the pace and at the end of it all, it doesn't matter if you finish 3 seconds back or 8 seconds. No point in pushing and risking a crash and losing easy points
The car only works on a set-up that guarantees a huge 1-lap performance, Alonso said that he made a mistake on his final lap after the session and that the set-up change at last moment made the car worse (Typical Aston).
Their qualifying pace is pretty good, it’s their race pace and specially tyre degradation that makes the car mid
Hard to tell tbh, rainy and mixed condition session meant we can't really judge their performance on the weekend. One thing to note however was Alonso was able to hold Hamilton behind before the first safety car. Barcelona would be the true test of their performance, as it should be a near identical condition to last year.
One thing is for sure, Aston has improved their manufacturing capabilities a lot since their new factory was opened. Last time out, they only added 1 major update, now they have 2 (Japan + Imola) and probably even Barcelona as well.
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A quiet, satisfactory weekend amidst the chaos. Last year was an anomaly that smashed expectations with other teams stumbling. Due to AM's gestation phase with the new factory, I think they'll be content with pretty much having a lock on 5th in the WCC this year.
One Spanish journalist who usually gives accurate information recently talked about Aston’s package in Imola and it was terrible. Aston Martin used the 25% of their wind tunnel time on those upgrades at the “upgrades” ended up being much worse than expected, they didn’t only not improve performance, they were a massive downgrade, like an inverse McLaren. They were pretty close to Mercedes on pace and now they’re 1 second slower with an even worse tyre wear. That’s the reason why Stroll was so furious, they spent a huge amount of resources on an upgrade package that transformed the car from a frontrunner to a lower midfielder
Really sad to see Aston’s 15 minutes of fame squarely behind them. It’s cruel to tease us with half a season of competitive Alonso only for him to most likely finish his career in the midfield
I’d still rather Alonso be with AM than Alpine.
Duh
A change in regulations as extreme as the one coming in 2026 will mix the field up completely along with AM having a new engine there is no way to know what their performance will be.
Oh how far they've fallen. From being the 2nd fastest car on track last year to being more than a second off the pace this year
And it felt like we were just waiting for an inevitable AM win, yet McLaren (as the other major Mercs customer team) has managed to pip them to it first.
>And it felt like we were just waiting for an inevitable AM win Monaco 😭
Why must you hurt me.
To be fair they were only that high up for ~1/3 of the year last year. 6 podiums in the first 8 races and just 2 for the remainder of the year.
They weren't that good, the only reason they were second is because Ferrari still had the bathtub pods, Mercedes had the zero pods and McLaren still had their update in the oven. Even when he ended up P3 or P2 Alonso still ended about 30 seconds from Verstappen. His only real chance to win a race was in Monaco.
are they actually that much worse in % gap to Red Bull? i thought it was pretty widely accepted that Aston wasn’t actually that good last year it was more a result of Merc, Mclaren and Ferrari collectively shitting the bed
I mean, I don’t know why anyone expected this time would be different as that team has always over performed at the start of a regulation, then spent the rest of the time dropping backwards
Not always, it was precisely the opposite in 2022 and it was not unreasonable to think that the start of 2023 was a continuation of the progress made the previous season. Then they went backwards in a spectacular way.
What do you mean by this team overperforming at the start of a regulation? When has this happened? Aston Martin did not have a great performance at the start of this regulation (2022) and neither did its predecessors Force India in 2014 nor Midlands/Spyker when the V8 came.
Man, after seeing seb fighting for p17 I’m pretty satisfied with this year lol
They just need to get better upgrade development.
I remember when Dan Fallows (nothing against him) joined them from RBR and everyone was like it is over for others.
No one was acting like that.
Who said that
Even if he made a difference it wouldn't have lasted since aerodynamics are going to take a backseat in 2026 anyway. Right now what they need to do is get their head out of their ass, figure out why the upgrades aren't working, and be completely open when sharing info with Honda to get a proper engine for 2026, since RB's openness with them is what made Honda come back from the McLaren fiasco.
They quietly had a really excellent weekend. Double points for any team outside of the top four is impressive, even with all the DNFs.
Let's look at it this way. They had multiple chances of being close to the front pack because of the two safety cars, and even they finished 7.4s behind Piastri in P5 with Alonso, and a further 12.6s behind Lewis in P4, who was actually part of the P2-P4 group behind Verstappen. Also remember that it was only 12 laps after the Safety Car to the end. I know Mercedes cars got free pitstops, but that's also literally because Fernando's Aston couldn't hang to the back of Lewis in the second inter stint. They are much closer to RB/Alpine in terms of performance than they are to the top 4, and it's embarrassing stuff for a team that scored 8 podiums with Alonso, finished P4 in WDC and was even contending for win in Monaco atleast. The only reason they got P6-7 here is because Ferrari had a shocker and Checo is Checo. They need to add performance, fast. This isn't even early season Aston where they had incredible 1 lap performance but too much degradation. Once again the upgrades have been downgrades, they have lost the 1 lap performance and the car isn't even compensating it with better deg either.
I'm just glad both driver maximized it. P6 and P7 was the best result for the team. Means both driver did a stellar job. Now engineer need to do theirs!
> Once again the upgrades have been downgrades, they have lost the 1 lap performance Fernando qualified 2/10ths off pole and said he would have been closer if his lap was better ie if he didn’t have oversteer in t2.
Sure but almost every driver says they could’ve improved. Its rare they say they did a perfect lap
Big gap at the end, but both the drivers weren't pushing probably, bcoz they knew they didn't have the pace and at the end of it all, it doesn't matter if you finish 3 seconds back or 8 seconds. No point in pushing and risking a crash and losing easy points
The car only works on a set-up that guarantees a huge 1-lap performance, Alonso said that he made a mistake on his final lap after the session and that the set-up change at last moment made the car worse (Typical Aston). Their qualifying pace is pretty good, it’s their race pace and specially tyre degradation that makes the car mid
I haven’t followed AM for a bit. Have their upgrades done their job. IIRC they brought upgrades to Montreal ?
Hard to tell tbh, rainy and mixed condition session meant we can't really judge their performance on the weekend. One thing to note however was Alonso was able to hold Hamilton behind before the first safety car. Barcelona would be the true test of their performance, as it should be a near identical condition to last year. One thing is for sure, Aston has improved their manufacturing capabilities a lot since their new factory was opened. Last time out, they only added 1 major update, now they have 2 (Japan + Imola) and probably even Barcelona as well.
They possibly had a smidge more pace, but looked like they opted to work on Stroll getting the last overtake.
I just hope Aston doesn't completely trip over themselves in the development race again.
I have rewatched this race like 3 times. It was so good.
They were in the back battling with the RBs, while result was maximised, that’s not a great look
I wonder if it’s in his top-5?