Fernando Alonso has asserted Aston Martin won’t “rest” until the team is back fighting at the sharp end in Formula 1 amid a challenging Austrian Grand Prix weekend.
Aston Martin experienced another tumultuous session as Alonso qualified as the slowest driver in Q2 in 15th spot, while team-mate Lance Stroll was eliminated in Q1.
But Alonso, who underlined last weekend that Aston Martin must “talk less”, has insisted the Silverstone-based squad won’t relent in its bid to recapture its 2023 form.
Alonso lagged behind Stroll during the Sprint sessions but credited the turnaround on his side of the garage to extensive changes to his AMR24 car prior to qualifying.
The Spaniard divulged that the modifications were so wholesale that the mechanics “didn’t even have time for lunch” in order to ensure that the tweaks were finalised.
“Since the Sprint race ended, we’ve changed the whole car,” Alonso said. “The mechanics didn’t have even time for lunch.
We now went out for qualifying and we tried again.
“We’re still more or less in the same position. So it’s not a problem of setup. It’s fundamentally we don’t have the pace.
“There’s no rest until we are better and until we are fighting for positions at the front.
“And until that moment comes, it’s time to suffer on track and to cheer all the team cause we are going through difficult moments”
Aston Martin is awaiting the next upgrade package to arrive – scheduled to be the Hungarian Grand Prix next month – and Alonso is expecting a decent step forward.
But looking ahead to the race in Austria coming up, Alonso is anticipating it being difficult to make inroads towards the points positions from 15th place on the grid.
“I think it’s going to be difficult. I think to win the points at the moment is maybe not the position we deserve. So we just need help from the others in front,” he added.
“That may happen. This is Austria. Maybe a lot of things will happen [during the race].
“We need to stay focused. We need to see the chequered flag. And hopefully, the last few points will be on our table.”
