Aston Martin had a challenging weekend in Singapore, whereas McLaren had a great race. Lando Norris‘ P2 and Oscar Piastri’s P7 got them a very decent haul of points, which brought them close to Aston Martin in the championship standings. In the F1 Nation Podcast, Pedro de la Rosa, who is an ambassador for the British team, spoke about how they were cursed in Singapore. De la Rosa seems to think that everything conspired against them.
The team started the season with one of the quickest cars on the grid. However, they have struggled in recent races, and now find themselves fourth in the championship, just 78 points ahead of McLaren.
On the other hand, Aston Martin faced several setbacks. Stroll crashed out after a big incident, which not only cost the team a lot of money but also resulted in him not competing in the race, leading to a loss of points. Alonso also had damage since the first lap, a bad pitstop, and a penalty that had him outside the points.
Lance Stroll’s horrific crash at the Singapore GP 😬
The Aston Martin driver was immediately taken to the medical station to be treated after the horrible crash that immediately resulted in a RED FLAG 🟥
Stroll is unsure whether he still be competing tomorrows F1 GrandPrix✅ pic.twitter.com/OGfS6SKQXI
— Forberge (@forbergenews) September 16, 2023
According to Pedro de la Rosa, the team needs a perfect weekend to be competitive. The recent performance drop-off has been significant and the team needs to find a way to get themselves out of the slump.
What went wrong for Aston Martin?
De la Rosa said that he is disappointed with the team’s performance, saying that they had expected better but lacked pace. He admits that it was unfortunate and that there are no excuses for the team’s performance.
Talking about this, La Rosa stated in the F1 Nation Podcast, “With race one thing and then another conspiring against us, fight with Checo, penalties, bad pit stops, I don’t think we were that far off if everything went as planned.”
He added that Formula 1 is a tough sport and there will always be bad weekends. He believes that the team needs to have a perfect weekend to be competitive.
Fernando Alonso and Co. not giving up on their battle
Despite the challenges, Aston Martin hasn’t given up on their battle for P2 yet. They will not only try to defend their current position but also attack. The team is committed to improving their performance and is far from reckless.
De la Rosa said that the team is following a development program and that the important thing is to learn from their mistakes. He is confident that the team has a more competitive car than what they have shown this weekend.
The Aston Martin ambassador believes that the AMR23 is still competitive, but that certain tracks will suit them more than others. They expect to be a lot stronger in Japan, and will be hoping to get back to the top there.
