Improved Pace for Aston Martin, But Points Remain Out of Reach

Alonso nears points in Vegas, while Stroll battles radio issues in another challenging race for Aston Martin’s drivers.

Fernando Alonso came within one place of scoring points with his Aston Martin F1 in Las Vegas.

The Spaniard stood out with a start on soft tires, allowing him to quickly gain positions in the field. Ultimately, he finished 11th.

“The car’s pace was much better in the race for us, and it was a nice surprise to be fighting for points until the final laps. The strategy was good, the pit stops were quick, and I felt a bit more satisfied with the car overall.”

“But there’s no reward for 11th place, and I think we deserved to score points tonight. I’m looking forward to getting back in the car for Qatar as we continue to chase more performance. I also want to congratulate Max [Verstappen] on winning his fourth Drivers’ Championship—he fully deserved this title.”

Lance Stroll finished in 15th position after another anonymous race for the Canadian, though he had a valid explanation.

“It was a tough race because I lost radio communication from the first lap, so I couldn’t talk to the team. We planned to stay out longer on the medium tires at the start, but I felt they were dropping off quickly and wanted to switch to the hard tires. I just couldn’t relay that message to the pit wall.”

“As a result, when I came in, the team wasn’t ready for the stop, costing us about 20 seconds.”

“We knew it would be a challenging race, but I think 12th place could have been possible without the radio issue causing the slow stop. As a team, we know where the car needs improvement, but there’s still a lot of work to do to get there. Finally, congratulations to Max [Verstappen] on his fourth title—it’s thoroughly well-deserved.”