Following an incredible start to the season, Aston Martin’s performances have only gone down compared to other teams. While they were once in second place in the constructor’s standings, the British team currently finds themselves in fourth and facing heavy competition from McLaren for the spot. Despite Fernando Alonso putting in all his efforts, a lack of support by the team sees him struggling to hold on to fourth place in the driver’s standings. However, F1 Journalist Scott Mitchell-Malm reveals Aston Martin might have one more upgrade before the season’s end to boost Alonso’s hopes of finishing on a high via The Race F1 Podcast.
With their latest upgrades, McLaren has seemingly become the second-fastest team on the grid. As such, their top priority will be to overtake Aston Martin in the constructor’s championship. But all is not over for Aston Martin as they now bank upon an upgrade package to salvage decent results from the remainder of the season.
Aston Martin reignite hopes for a top-three finish for Fernando Alonso
The decline in Aston Martin’s performances this season has been eye-catching, to say the least. Many theories have surfaced around the possibilities behind the descent, but the fact remains that the team could not keep up in the development race with other teams.
Discussing the same in Spotify’s The Race F1 Podcast, Scott Mitchell-Malm mentioned Aston Martin did not slip in their race with Red Bull, but other teams caught on. However, he added there is still hope for the British team as they might see another upgrade pack before the season ends.
“They have some upgrades coming, so all hope isn’t lost. But it’s a long shot.”
While falling behind in the development race has cost them greatly, the most important factor in them seeing a loss of points has been Lance Stroll. The Canadian driver has failed to score any points for his team in the last three races and has picked up only 47 points throughout the season, as opposed to Alonso‘s 174.
Stroll costing Aston Martin vital points in the constructor’s championship
In the last six races, Stroll has scored a mere three points for his team. He is consistently finishing out of points and has not seen the end of the race on four occasions this season. As such, not only is he costing his team valuable points, but also millions in damage repair costs. Given the same, Mitchell-Malm believes an upgrade pack alone will not be able to keep McLaren at bay as both their drivers are putting in strong performances in each race.
The continued struggles of Stroll in an F1 car have given wind to rumors suggesting there might soon be a reshuffling of the driver lineup in Aston Martin. However, with Stroll’s father owning the team and a theory suggesting he bought it only to fulfill his son’s racing dreams, we might not see Lance Stroll without a driver’s seat anytime soon.
