Aston Martin Team Principal Mike Krack has asserted that there are “very small margins” between its Formula 1 drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll this year.
2024 was undeniably a tough year for the Silverstone-based squad.
Both drivers were unable to significantly push themselves to the front of the grid and failed to finish in the top three in any race.
Ultimately, Alonso finished ninth in the Drivers’ Championship thanks to a tally of 70 points, with Stroll in 12th, amassing just 24 pointa.
Krack believes the gap between the two is closer than the stats suggest and pins it down to the AMR24’s poor drivability.
“The car is super-difficult to drive,” Krack told es.motorsport.
“I’ll give you an example. If Lewis [Hamilton] hadn’t hit the bollard in Abu Dhabi [qualifying], we would have been out in Q1 [with Alonso].
“Sometimes it’s very small margins that make the difference.
“We saw Lance do a brilliant sector two on used tyres, quicker than Fernando, so it really is sometimes in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“I think that, in general, there is not that much difference between the two.
“We look at it objectively and yes, we have a difference throughout the season. We try to analyse it and find it.
“But I think that the car is so complicated to drive that you can never predict anything…
“But I don’t want to start with questions about the drivers, because the car we gave the drivers was not good enough.”
Alonso appears to maintain supremacy within the team
Despite Krack’s protestations about the supposed closeness between the two drivers, the stats will show that the two-time World Champion Spaniard Alonso continues to reserve status as the top man in the team.
Alonso finished 2024 46 points clear of Stroll in the Drivers’ standings, and in 2023, when the team was more competitive he would end it 132 points ahead of the Canadian.
Moreover, Alonso won the race head-to-head with Stroll in a lopsided 17 to 7 tally this year, with qualifying falling further to the Spaniard’s favour (19 to 5).
Stroll has faced much criticism from certain circles of the F1 media and fandom for his apparent inferiority to Alonso, and for remaining within the team due to the ownership by his father Lawrence.
Over the past two seasons, he has also been observed appearing aloof and emotional in certain situations, including shoving trainer Henry Howe and subsequently giving a short interview after being eliminated from Q1 at last year’s Qatar Grand Prix.
His gravel trap mishap on the formation lap at Interlagos this season again speaks to a driver who is uninspired and unmotivated.
On his day, Stroll has the speed, his pole position in the 2020 Turkish GP proves that, but those days are too few and far between.
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