Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso has expressed frustration over his team’s recent struggles during Grand Prix weekends. Speaking following the 2024 Dutch Grand Prix, in which he finished tenth, one lap behind race winner Lando Norris , Alonso stated that the Silverstone-based team was unable to compete with front-runner teams and would have to settle for competing for ninth and tenth position.
“We will fight for 9th and 10th again. We can have some fights, but [fighting at the front] is outside our possibilities.”
He added that the Silverstone-based team was “light years away” from the likes of Ferrari, which he noted as having ended up on the podium despite their struggles earlier in the weekend as well as in the most recent races.
“Even if they start from the pitlane, today Ferrari ended up on the podium. We are light years away.”
He explained that, as things stood, even a top-10 start at races was little comfort to the team, as the AMR24 was often unable to compete with the other cars on the grid, leaving the drivers vulnerable within a few laps of racing.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton started behind the Astons on Sunday. By the finish, Alonso’s fellow Spaniard was over a minute up the road, with Hamilton around 40s ahead.
“Making it into Q3 is only a small present – knowing that in the race, we are vulnerable within a few laps.”
He expressed a wish to return to the team’s performance at the beginning of the season where, despite being outperformed by the likes of Red Bull, McLaren, Mercedes, and Ferrari, Aston Martin had been able to secure points more easily due to being well ahead of other teams. He added that the threat to the team’s performance had increased over the recent races with the teams that had been behind them at the beginning of the season quickly catching up in terms of development and performance.
“If only we could be in no man’s land again, like at the beginning of the year. Because now the teams behind are catching up.
“In general,” Alonso summarised, “We are the seventh-fastest team, and we have to improve – without a doubt.”
While Alonso was critical of his team, he did express optimism for the performance of Ferrari, his former team, at upcoming races. Alonso, who raced with the Maranello-based team for four years – between 2010 and 2014 – identified Ferrari as being potential favourites for the win at the upcoming races, most notably the Italian Grand Prix and Singapore Grand Prix.
“The next two races [excluding the Azerbaijan Grand Prix between them], for example, Ferrari should be the car to beat.
“What we saw last year in Monza and Singapore, Leclerc’s win in Monaco this year, for Singapore, I think they will be the favourites.”
