Fernando Alonso said it is not the job of “one man” to turn Aston Martin’s Formula 1 fortunes around, amid continued speculation linking his team to Adrian Newey.
Aston Martin has emerged as the prime candidate to land Newey’s F1 services following his planned departure from Red Bull next year with a big money offer allegedly thrown his way by Team Owner Lawrence Stroll.
Newey’s appointment would be timely with Aston Martin stuck in the midfield on pace and fifth in the Constructors’ standings, a considerable 218 points behind the top four teams of Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes.
After a pointless run at Monza on Sunday, Alonso addressed the Newey links as “still rumours” but added that Aston Martin needs more than that to recapture the form that saw it achieve several podiums in 2023.
“I think it’s not only one man’s job to fix things,” he told media including Motorsport Week after the Italian Grand Prix.
“It’s more what we have now and what we are producing. Understanding what is going in the right direction, what is going in the wrong direction, and try to prepare 2025 in a better way.”
With the 2025 season the last of this year’s regulations, it’s vital Aston Martin gets on top of its car characteristics soon, but Alonso, buoyed by the examples of McLaren and Mercedes, feels there is time for his team to turn things around.
“I think we still have time to react,” he said. “It’s the first of September. McLaren improved in four months from last to podium. So we have clear examples.
“Also, Mercedes started the same as us. We were level with Mercedes for the first four races, and they won three races already this year. So I’m not a fan of excuses.”
Should Newey link up with Aston Martin, he’ll find plenty of building blocks in place to make a success of things in the future, including a brand new wind tunnel set to come online at the Silverstone-based squad’s resplendent HQ at the start of 2025 and a Honda works engine partnership in 2026.
While Alonso admits the team needs “to be patient” until those foundations bare fruit, he is also adamant that Aston Martin can’t rest easy on its current predicament.
“We need to understand that the big target is 2026,” Alonso said.
“But at the same time, I think as a team, we could accept not being in the top four battle.
“They are top teams and they are well in front of us. But now to be behind Williams, behind Haas, behind Toro Rosso, I think we need to raise the bar a little bit. We need to get better.”
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