Crisis averted. The European triple-header ended well for Aston Martin after all. After zero points in Barcelona and Spielberg, Fernando Alonso was already very frustrated and expectations for the British GP were low. In rainy Silverstone, however, the team was able to pull itself out of its slump with a double points result. Alonso finished eighth, directly behind his teammate Lance Stroll.
“The car felt good,” reports the Spaniard. “It was back to normal. We were the fifth or sixth fastest team in the field. Nico [Hülkenberg] was very quick all weekend but we were able to fight for points. I think that’s more or less the position we were in before Imola. So we’ve returned to our more natural position and I’m very happy about that.”
Since the Canadian GP in early June, Aston Martin has not scored any points in the Formula 1, although work on the AMR24 was ongoing. “After Austria, we regrouped a little,” reveals Fernando Alonso. “We understood a few directions that were perhaps not right.”
Lance Stroll: P6 and crash would also have been possible
Finally points again for Aston Martin, but could even more have been possible? “I was hoping for P6,” says Lance Stroll. “We were the best of the rest after the start, but lost that position to Hülkenberg during the race. I wanted a bit more, but it was still a good race.”
Instead of mourning the lost points, the Canadian is happy to have finished at all. “In the mixed conditions, anything could have gone wrong,” says Stroll. “On the drying track, it was difficult to keep the car on the track from the start, so I’m honestly happy to have scored points. It was a decent amount for the team.”
Aston Martin takes ten points from Silverstone. There is no longer any talk of crisis mode or disaster races. “It’s good to end this triple header with a more competitive weekend,” said Stroll. “That’s a big incentive for the team and we will try to take this momentum with us to Hungary.”
Aston Martin team boss has doubts: Is the Silverstone result misleading?
Result or performance – what has improved at Aston Martin over the course of the triple header? “We have to analyse everything first, because it was not a normal race with the rain,” Krack is unsure. “The placing is better than in the two previous races. But we have to analyse whether the performance is also better.”
This includes the review of upgrades, which is still pending. “We changed some parts of the car for Silverstone,” recalls the team boss. “We had a new front wing. We had something on the rear brake duct. We have to see what effect that had. Then we will decide how to proceed. I think you have to be careful when comparing the races in Spielberg and Silverstone because the conditions were very different. You can’t be fooled by the result alone.”
Next Aston upgrade coming in Hungary
Aston Martin continues to bring out upgrades for the AMR24 throughout the season. The next new parts are already scheduled for the Hungarian GP and should help the racing team to finally leave the European slump behind.
“We have already brought a lot of new parts to the car and some of them have worked, others have not,” says Alonso. “Hopefully we will have a positive surprise in Hungary. Last year McLaren showed us how much the car can change in a season. This year we have Mercedes. Now it’s up to us.”