Evolution. That is the key. That’s the way to do it a champion car in Formula 1. Yes, because it is about growing up. Not to arrive and see what happens. But to move on. To progress. To continue. It’s just what Aston Martin is missing. In what a team that was the second best team in Bahrain, and in Canada, and that now seems to be the fifth is failing.
That now seems to have fallen behind, far behind, with respect not only to Red Bull but to the rest. Both those who were rivals of Fernando Alonso on tracks like Jeddah and new ones. Like McLaren for example. Why not. have not evolved. The improvements have not arrived. And if they have arrived…
If they have arrived, it is not that they have been of much use. Let’s go to the Bahrain GP. To a Grand Prix in which McLaren was a disastrous team. To a Grand Prix in which the virtues of the AMR23 were seen. Little tire wear. Good corner entry. good braking good traction.
How far is Canada
Alonso said it. The best thing about the car was that it was easy to drive. It was the same in Saudi Arabia. In a career in which he achieved his podium 100 not without uncertainty and where he recognized that if he had had to get Russell more, he could have done it.
That was the reality of Aston Martin. Happiness. Happiness. Almost pole position in Monaco. The pressure on Verstappen in Monte Carlo and in Canada. Yes, it was all smiles. Redheads, and even a dog, enjoyed the taste of champagne and that feeling of success that seemed to be here to stay.
But nothing is left without work. Nothing remains if you don’t keep pushing. In that sense, and knowing how much the Pirelli issue has had to do, Aston Martin is falling behind. In Hungary, track marked in red and radically different from Austria and the United Kingdom, the seams of the AMR23 have been seen.
Hungary was marked in red, but…
The rhythm, low. The aforementioned virtues, overshadowed by the rest of the cars. It is clear, four tenths of the pole and eighths. Before it was the same and be third parties. But the team’s forte was racing, and at the Hungaroring…
The two Red Bulls, ahead. The two Mercedes, ahead. The two Ferraris, ahead. And the two McLarens, also ahead. Fernando could offer little fight against Pérez. Little pressure could be exerted on Russell, who started 18th. Little could Carlos Sainz also do.
It was like being in no man’s land. No fight. No action. No defense and no attack. Yes, leaving a great overtaking to Valtteri Bottas, but little more than that.
Now to Spa
It is the new reality of Aston Martin. The one that waits at least until the summer break, with a Belgian GP that is the complete opposite of Hungary. Who knows what happens in Spa… but it looks bad.
