Alonso: Aston's F1 Comeback Within Reach

Fernando Alonso remains hopeful, asserting Aston Martin F1’s potential comeback is just tenths away.

Fernando Alonso believes Aston Martin F1 can still anticipate a turnaround this season. The two-time world champion assesses the team’s performance evolution and is convinced the gap can still be closed.

“We’ve had ups and downs this season. We were quite fast initially, especially in qualifying, with races being a bit more challenging. We are now more stable between Saturday and Sunday but further from the leading teams,” Alonso stated.

“It makes things more difficult when we aim to fight for a top 5 and a podium. We need to improve, raise our level, and everyone is working hard to bring developments to the car, and we’ll see what we can do in the second half of the season.”

“We are confident because we see every weekend that we are not so far off. Three or four tenths is a big gap in F1, but looking at how the car performs, and seeing what McLaren or Mercedes have done, we know that an update that brings the car to life can bring you to that level.”

He has a clear idea of the progress the team needs to make for the rest of the season: “We need to stabilize as the fifth force on the grid, not have bad weekends, always be in the points and in Q3, see progress in the car and that will be a good second half.”

Stroll hopes for a “solid weekend” at Spa

Lance Stroll is pleased with the team’s recent progress, which allowed him to score points in Hungary and Great Britain: “I think we have slightly improved the car over the last races, for sure.”

“Hungary was not our most competitive weekend. We were a bit better at Silverstone. We are better on long straights. So, I hope we can be good this weekend.”

“Will this translate to Spa? Yes, of course, I believe so. It’s a fantastic track. It’s a place I always enjoy coming back to. And as we have been fast on the straights this year, I hope we can have a solid weekend.”

The Canadian has recently matched Alonso’s level, and he continues to maintain steady goals for the remainder of the year while reflecting on the past 13 races: “As usual, you know, there are good races, others disappointing.”

“And yes, for the second half of the season, we are simply trying to build on the first half, to become more competitive as a team, to try to score points week after week. So, we need to keep pushing until the last race.”

“I just think we need to continue working on the car, improving it, increasing the downforce, working on the balance, just the usual things. So, yes, we need to keep working every week.”