Fernando Alonso’s Dutch GP weekend was one of two halves. While he had a brilliant qualifying session, securing P7, the Aston Martin driver could only finish P10 in the race. A disappointed Alonso admitted that even the one point they earned was more than they deserved.
Alonso looked back on Saturday’s qualifying session and stated that the only reason they left Zandvoort with a point was their good one-lap pace. As per Motorsport Total, he said,
“Even one point is probably too much for the pace we had. “We had a good qualifying, which is why we started from P7, which gave us the opportunity to get that one point. But we have to get better…”
Signing off from the sands of Zandvoort. #DutchGP pic.twitter.com/2u6yztuw2P
— Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team (@AstonMartinF1) August 25, 2024
Despite being 42 years old, Alonso still has the desire to compete at the front of the grid and win races. However, with Aston Martin, that doesn’t seem possible at the moment. The two-time world champion ranked them as the seventh-fastest team after the Dutch GP, a long way behind the top four, which was their aim before the season started.
The Silverstone-based team has introduced several upgrades so far in 2024, but none have resulted in significant improvements. Alonso believes this must change if they are to make progress.
Time and again, F1 teams have shown that a single upgrade package can turn a season around for good. McLaren and Mercedes demonstrated this in recent months, and Alonso hopes Aston Martin can pull off something similar.
Alonso urges Aston Martin to return to early 2023 form
At the start of 2023, Aston Martin was the surprise package, regularly competing for podiums thanks to Alonso’s performances. The British team achieved eight podium finishes — all thanks to Alonso.
Unfortunately, they began to lag in development, eventually dropping down the pecking order. As a result, the team started 2024 on a dismal note, struggling to finish in the points. Alonso added,
“It is of course disappointing for us. We have to understand the car better, we have to bring a few new parts for the next races and be back where we started the year.”
Alonso also admitted before the Dutch GP that he doesn’t expect Aston Martin to make significant improvements this season. Instead, he hopes the team will use the remainder of the season as a lesson to identify areas for improvement and then approach the 2025 season with fresh expectations.
