Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin captivated the F1 world with their meteoric rise to the spotlight at the beginning of the season. He even got a comfortable spot in the third place of the driver’s championship, hoping to go beyond. However, the recent weeks have been a different story for the driver and the team, as performance has taken a noticeable hit. However, Alonso believes that the giants will eventually fall.
As upgrades flood every garage on the paddock, teams who started the season at the back of the grid have made it to the podium. On the flip side, Alonso who had finally returned to the podium, finds himself drifting to the middle of the pack. Slipping from the rankings and losing ground, Alonso has openly criticized this lackluster performance.
With palpable frustration, Alonso wonders if he could ever return to where he was at the beginning of the season. What would have been the genesis of something great, has now deflated into a very sad situation.
Fernando Alonso makes a poignant observation
Ahead of the Belgian GP, the predictions point toward Red Bull winning, with McLaren and Mercedes putting on a show behind them. Aston Martin is no longer a part of this conversation. Well aware of the situation, Alonso believes the only is up for the team that’s now in the trenches.
However, this self-awareness came with a warning to those finally building their confidence. Talking to the press at Spa, he stated, “We are at the lowest point and we will go up again, there are others who are at their peak and that will almost certainly have a downturn. In 22 races everything happens and we will go up again.”
What an honor to share the podium with these F1 legends. Thanks Canada🇨🇦💚. Enjoyed every single lap . #f1 #canada #montreal #astonmartin pic.twitter.com/l5ZJtNLSTS
— Fernando Alonso (@alo_oficial) June 18, 2023
McLaren and Mercedes are slowly laying the blocks to overthrow Max Verstappen and his team, however, if Alonso’s predictions are right, they too might fail. However, it will be in Aston Martin’s hands to exploit that window of opportunity with the right upgrades, to return to the front.
Explaining their deficits, Alonso explained the situation. “We have lost performance in the last two races and we are trying to understand why. We knew in Bahrain and Jeddah that there would be ups and downs and that difficulties would come, and maybe we are in one of these moments.”
Aston Martin disagrees with Alonso
At the Hungarian GP, Aston Martin finished in P9 and P10, showing a significant decline in their performance. Alonso suggested that the altered tire construction could be the reason for their poor form.
Taking points home from Hungary. Plenty to keep pushing forwards for next week in Belgium. #HungarianGP pic.twitter.com/WIYRzx1fkk
— Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team (@AstonMartinF1) July 23, 2023
However, Mike Krack disagreed with his assessment. ‘That would be an easy excuse. We see there is a little difference with these tires but they were brought for safety and so from that point of view, everybody has to run them, and are the same for everybody. We should not use this as an excuse for competitiveness.”
The lack of performance can only be attributed to the noncompetitive upgrades brought in by the team, while the others have come close to cracking the formula. However, should Aston Martin make their big change, it’s no doubt Alonso will push the car to its limit.
