Following a lackluster performance at the Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix, where Fernando Alonso crossed the finish line in 12th place, the seasoned driver delivered a strong message to the Aston Martin team. During a post-race interview, as quoted by Autosport, the Spanish driver expressed dissatisfaction over Aston Martin’s recent showings, summing up the experience as a clear wake-up call for more effort.
The two-time champion commented:
“I am a little bit disappointed because we didn’t score any point. We deserved not to score any point because we didn’t have the pace the whole weekend.
“In the race, it was extremely difficult. When you slide so much in the corners, also you kill the tyres. So you have two problems. You don’t have the pace, plus you have a lot of degradation. So all in all, it has been a very long race for us. We need to get better for us.”
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Looking ahead, Alonso harbors concerns about replicating issues in the upcoming races at Austria and Silverstone, two tracks sharing similar characteristics with Barcelona. The prospect appears grim for the British motorsport team:
“It is frustrating but there’s nothing you can do now so you start thinking in Austria immediately when you see the chequered flag and what you can do differently.
“But I think it’s gonna be painful as well because it has some characteristics of Barcelona, with the long corners.
“It’s going to be another tough weekend, also in Silverstone, arguably. We cannot get too frustrated. It’s time to work harder, to talk less, to deliver more. It’s what we want to do.”
His comments weren’t limited to race performance frustrations. Highlighting a broader issue, Alonso drew attention to the ineffectiveness of the team’s attempts at technical improvements. Despite numerous upgrades to the AMR24, the expected leaps in performance have not materialized.
“I’m looking forward, but we’ve been upgrading the car a lot and we didn’t deliver the results.
“So now it’s also a matter of whatever we bring to the track, it does deliver what we expect and we start getting better and better. So as I said, we need to work hard, get better every race, but without too much talking or promising.”
As upcoming races loom, the team’s ability to translate lessons from this bout of criticism into better performance will be crucial. As Aston Martin looks to pivot from this setback, the motorsport world will be watching closely to see if they can match their driver’s call for improvement with genuine and effective changes.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.