Fernando Alonso had a brilliant start to the 2023 season, fighting at the top of the field with his Aston Martin. However, in the last few races, the performances have dimmed down and the Spaniard is having to settle for points rather than podiums. According to recent reports, this drop in performance can be attributed to a ban made by the FIA against a few parts of the AMR23.
Alonso managed to claim six podiums in the first eight races. Following the Spanish GP, he had promised that it would be his last race without a podium, but reality struck soon. Alonso did finish P2 in the subsequent race but failed to finish on the podium in any of the next four races.
Towards the beginning of the season, Alonso had managed to fuel the expectations of finally achieving his 33rd Grand Prix win. However, all of that has faded away and with how the Aston Martin is performing right now, the ’33rd’ seems impossible this season.
The FIA forced Aston Martin to change their front wings
The Silverstone outfit has put forward a plethora of reasons behind their dip in form, starting from the fact that the new upgrades have made the AMR23 more wind resistant, to the car losing performance because of the change in Pirelli’s tire compound. However, a recent report by La Razon has claimed that there’s a much bigger reason at play.
La Razon has claimed that the FIA secretly banned a component of the Aston Martin car during the British Grand Prix. It is believed that the component did not comply with the FIAs regulations and this forced the team to make major changes to their front wings which led to the loss in performance.
This theory gained even more traction as it was mentioned during an Autosport podcast earlier in the year that Aston Martin had found a loophole in the FIAs regulations and the governing body was trying its best to close it up. Team principal Mike Krack also did not help the cause when he refused to elaborate if there’s been an FIA order that forced them to change their front wings.
Another factor that might have played a role in this downfall is Aston Martin’s recent connection with Honda. The team announced that they would replace Mercedes with Honda as their engine supplier from 2025 before the Monaco GP. Coincidentally, the team started struggling right after that, failing to bring home the results that they were doing at the start.
A comeback might be on the cards
Despite all of this, the team back at Silverstone is totally poised to make a comeback and is working hard towards developing the car in the latter stages of the season. Work has already started on manufacturing new parts for the AMR23, which will get Alonso and Stroll back up to speed.
Aston Martin is set to bring in their biggest upgrade package of the season at the Dutch GP, after the summer break. There are proposed changes to be made to the sidepods, the DRS, and the floor of the car.
