Aston Martin suspects Imola F1 upgrades made 2024 car ‘more difficult to drive’

Aston Martin boss Mike Krack has admitted the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix hinted that its latest Formula 1 upgrades might have made its car “more difficult to drive”.

The Silverstone-based had pinned hopes on a substantial update package – including a new floor – ensuring it avoided losing even more ground to the leading quartet.

But Aston Martin’s improvement was blunted as McLaren’s parts from Miami continued to show a marked step, while Ferrari and Mercedes introduced developments.

Aston Martin’s prospects were not aided when Fernando Alonso crashed at Rivazza in FP1 and another trip through the gravel in Q1 resigned him to a premature exit.

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The Spaniard started from the pit lane as he conducted a test run with set-up changes to his AMR24, while Stroll hauled his car into ninth place from 13th on the grid.

Krack believes that Alonso’s rare mishaps earlier in the weekend indicated that Aston Martin’s improved car had come with the caveat that it is now more on the edge.

“In Imola, when you start from where we started, it’s difficult,” Krack said after the race.

“We come away with two points, I think it was quite a good outcome, it shows that the car is still capable of doing things.

“But we have also seen that it is difficult to drive. We had a couple of offs over the weekend.

“The one from yesterday was actually impacting us the most because we were really on the back foot from that point onwards.

“We wanted to learn more, that’s why we elected to start from the pitlane and make a change on the car to see if we can make it easier.

“We wanted to do better from what we have done. But it was also compromised a little bit by the events [on Saturday].”

Stroll, who received the latest updates from the second practice session, contended that Aston Martin’s tweaks were “not good enough” to retain pace with its rivals.

With Red Bull’s sister squad RB outpacing the British marque once again at Imola, Krack has suggested that Aston Martin must strive to accelerate its developments.

“We’re not happy with two points, that is clear,” Krack added. “But other people are also bringing upgrades, so it is always a relative game.

“It’s tough, we must not underestimate that. I think, except one team, everybody has a list full of upgrades, so it shows how competitive the whole field is.

“We have to really keep pushing and bringing more stuff.”