Checkered flag only at Suzuka
Despite the high expectations for this season with the new Honda engines, the first three races of the championship have been forgettable for Aston Martin, struggling with reliability issues with both the car and the power units. Only in the last round in Japan did we see Fernando Alonso reach the finish line, the same driver who in China had to sensationally wave the white flag due to annoying and incessant vibrations in the steering wheel. During this break, the Silverstone team is working to quickly resolve the problems encountered by the single-seaters, but in the meantime, the two-time world champion hopes to return to the top of F1 by following the model of another team.
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Woking teaches
The Spaniard’s hope is to emulate the case of the McLaren MCL60, a car designed for the 2023 championship but which did not immediately bring the desired results, so much so that Technical Director James Key was removed from his post. However, during the season, the Woking-based team brought significant updates between the Austrian and British GPs, which significantly increased the car’s competitiveness, with a total of 9 podiums achieved between Norris and Piastri. An improvement that was the basis for the following championship, which ended with the victory of the 2024 and 2025 Constructors’ titles, in addition to Norris‘s success in the last world championship.
Possible feat?
A rise that Alonso hopes to experience firsthand with Aston Martin, as he told the media: “I think it will take a couple of months for Aston Martin’s return – he commented – we saw McLaren in 2023, last in the first two races, but then reaching the top at the end of the year. Maybe it’s too optimistic, but it’s a dream scenario. We know the season is long and, if you understand the problems and solve them, you have plenty of time to find yourself, in the second part of the year, or in the last third, in a much better position, and that’s what we’re working on. The car and the engine have huge potential and we’ve made progress since the Bahrain tests in terms of setup and understanding some driveability issues, so now we’re in a much better position. We need to solve the vibrations, we still need to close the power deficit and there are fundamental aspects that are still struggling, but it’s not like the team is just watching TV. They are working at full speed, so we just need time, we need to be patient because while the factory brings the updates, we have to keep working and racing every weekend with a package that at the moment is not the most competitive.”
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