Fernando Alonso Weighs In As Aston Martin Struggling To Beat Williams And Haas

Two-time World Champion and Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso weighed in on Aston Martin's troubles as the Silverstone-based team struggles to get itself up the pecking order in Formula One. At the start of the season, Aston Martin was the fifth fasted team on the grid but as the season progressed they fell down the order. During the recently concluded Italian Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso and teammate Lance Stroll qualified for P11 and P17 and had a tough race ahead of them. 

Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll finished 11th and 19th during the race. 

Alonso Weighs In 

Fernando Alonso has confessed that he feels powerless in the car he currently drives and does not want to be fighting the smaller team. The two-time World Champion expects to be fighting for points and podiums. 

“Of course, nothing we can do. 

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“We are in our team's hands, and I think Lance and myself, we’re trying to do the best we can every weekend. One inspired weekend, like this one from my side, I know it's going to be 'completely anonymous Monza 2024 from Alonso'.

“But I think this year we've been – Lance and myself – very close, and [in Monza] it was one of those weekends that I was a little bit better and I was happy with the car and pushing to the level that maybe was beyond 100% and that was P11, so disappointed on that.

"We need to be patient. We need to understand that the big target is 2026. But at the same time, I think as a team, we could accept not being in the top four battle - they are top teams and they are well in front of us. But now to be behind Williams, behind Haas, behind [RB], I think we need to raise the bar a little bit. We need to get better,” stated the two-time World Champion. 

Italian GP Far Better Than Expectations 

Alonso admitted that his race at Monza went far better than he expected it to be. He gave credit to some really good race execution by himself and his team. 

“We got lucky with the start – very good start, we overtook Nico [Hulkenberg],” he commented. “And then we were running tenth, close to Alex Albon.

“We kept the pace surprisingly with the Williams, so happy with that. And then we undercut him, so we were running ninth for the majority of the race [actually fewer than ten laps].

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“We opted for two stops – we could not make it on one with our tire degradation. It is very painful to lose the points because I think we deserve it, in a way, with a well-executed race. But the car is what it is at the moment, and we need to get better.”

“[As long as] we don't have an upgrade on the car, this is what it is and this is not good enough. 

"Not good enough in Monza. Not good in Zandvoort, in Spa, in Hungary. So I don't think there's going to be a big change in Baku, Singapore, or Austin unless we bring new parts. That's the plan,” stated Alonso.