Aston Martin had a sensational start to the 2023 Formula One season. In the opening eight races, Fernando Alonso stood on the podium six times as the Silverstone-based team sat P2 in the Constructors’ Championship through the course of the first six races.
However, the first signs of a slump came at the Spanish Grand Prix when Stroll and Alonso were a distant P6 and P7 on the Sunday. Following a strong drive to P2 by Alonso in Canada, the difficulties continued as the team went backwards at the Austrian, British and Hungarian events.
Ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix at the end of the month, Aston Martin are P3 in the standings, 51 points behind Mercedes and just 5 ahead of Ferrari.
Before the performance slipped away recently, Aston Martin looked very competitive and fast on different types of tracks as Alonso finished no lower than 4th in seven of the first eight races.
Speaking after a positive step was made at the Belgian Grand Prix where the two-time World Champion finished a solid P5, Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack explained how the next four races will test every area of the car due to the sizable differences of the venues.
Can Aston Martin get back to their early season form?
“I think if you want to play a role in the championship, you have to be strong everywhere. You cannot say, we just go for this track or that track.
“Zandvoort and Monza are very different. Then we have Singapore and Japan, also very different. You need to perform well on all four of the next four.
“You need to have a package ready that allows you to go more on a low drag to a high efficiency to high downforce or maximum downforce.
“The car has to behave well everywhere. This has to be the basics. Then you do your wings to adjust to the certain tracks.”
At the front, Red Bull have delivered an unbeaten campaign to date in 2023. Max Verstappen has won ten of the twelve races, with Sergio Pérez winning the other two.
Aston Martin’s inconsistent performance shows how far they still have to go before they can truly be considered an elite team like Mercedes and Red Bull have demonstrated in their dominant periods from 2010 through to now.
Krack was quick to praise Red Bull for the job they are doing this season. He also thinks it’s not disheartening the gap they have over the rest in races, and he sees it as a challenge to get to their level and stay there.
“Disheartening is not the right word. It’s a challenge. You see how far they are and you see also how much work it is to keep up or to try and keep up with them.
“It shows what a great car they have and what a great team they are.”
Photo credit: Red Bull Content Pool
