Fernando Alonso, who finished P9 last time out in Miami, currently sits eighth in the standings on 33 points after six races so far this season.
This is three times less than what he had achieved at the same point last season as he had already picked up five podiums and 93 points.
Despite this, Alonso is happy with the progress his Aston Martin team has made with the AMR24, having brought small upgrades at most race weekends so far.
“When I see the wind tunnel progress since last year, at the end of the year. This is a much better profile.
“Our progress is better than last year. But the results are not.”
On the updates themselves, Alonso says they will not produce miracles.
“[The update is worth] much less [in terms of lap time] than what was published in the Spanish media. I think it’s going to be a good step.
“But it was a good step in Bahrain. It was a good step in Jeddah in Australia. And in Japan. And a little bit in Miami.
“So basically every race we brought new parts this year. It’s no different here in Imola.”
The Spaniard has put his weaker start this year down to the stronger competition, as whilst he started the 2023 season with the second fastest car, a lack of effective upgrades last year meant Aston started the 2024 season as the fifth fastest squad.
“But it’s a very tough environment. We are fighting against top teams. They keep bringing upgrades.
“They started with eventually a better baseline. So we need to catch up. But our car is better than last year.”
Having just came from two sprint race weekends at China and Miami, Imola is the first time in over a month the drivers will have three practice sessions to dial in the car for qualifying and race day.
Alonso has spoken on how this will help him better understand the upgrades his team have brought over the last few race weekends and also this weekend in Imola.
“If it’s going to be more lap time than other upgrades, it remains to be seen tomorrow. We have three practices here. Different than the last two sprint events.
“So we have plenty of time to really optimise the new package and the set-up. But I don’t think that it’s different to any other race. And we will have more upgrades in Monaco next week.”
The two-time World Champion is still committed to securing his third World Championship, having signed a new multi-year deal with Aston Martin, which he believes will be his “last-contract” in F1.
“We want to one day fight for our championship. It’s something that we need to go through.
“That process as well of becoming a top team off track. I’m happier this year with the team progress and with the car than last year.”
