Fernando Alonso praises Aston Martin’s new plans: to declare war on Japan

The big topic on Thursday in Japan remains Fernando Alonso’s penalty in the Australian doctor. At least for Formula 1, but a little for Alonso himself now that he has vented his anger and now has better things to do. He doesn’t even want to bring up the topic again in Friday’s drivers’ briefing because: “We have new areas here that we have to take care of and explore.”

In the first three races, Aston Martin initially noticed some shortcomings and was far from fighting for the podium like last year. Especially in racing trim, the new AMR24 has so far shown a worrying tendency for increased tire wear, which the 2023 predecessor did not have at all. But it is the high level of progress that makes Alonso even more positive in the new year.

In Japan, the team is bringing redesigned undercarriage, partially redesigned fairings and a new beam wing to the track. The speed of development is great this year. The second weekend in Jeddah, Aston Martin revised the front suspension and recently brought a new front wing to Australia.

The end of the lack of updates at Aston Martin

“We’ve been very aggressive in development so far,” says Alonso, noting the lessons that had to be learned the hard way from the track. “Last year we had a very fast car and we had to learn a lot apart from how to build a car to keep up with the top teams. This year we are continuing that kind of progress, which is all a very good sign.”

This year’s car is currently a little behind and not a podium candidate, but all the data is correct and the performance on the track is as expected. “We identified several areas for improvement over the winter and the AMR24 was a step forward in all of these areas and is a solid development platform,” says deputy technical director Eric Blandin.

In Alonso’s eyes, the fact that the AMR24 doesn’t have any major individual weaknesses helps: “Otherwise that could mean you’ve miscalculated something or don’t fully understand something. For us it’s about making improvements to get more. forcing the car to carry.”

Alonso sees Aston Martin in the race to update with the best teams

Because on paper, “more power reduction” is the obvious and easiest solution. If implemented effectively, this reduces tire wear and also improves all the other minor shortcomings that currently plague the Aston Martin AMR24. There is already a clear roadmap for these improvements.

“I think we are on track this year,” concludes Alonso. “Last year we weren’t even in the race.” Aston Martin was repeatedly caught with updates that did not achieve anything, and this laxity is the real reason the team slipped behind Ferrari and McLaren.

Aston Martin is currently still fighting with Mercedes. However, Alonso has already managed to hold his position on the track for two consecutive races. There will be more good news later in the season. “For a new factory it is easy, of course, and at the end of the year the new wind tunnel is coming,” reminds Alonso. As of now, the team is still working in the Mercedes wind tunnel.