Fernando Alonso has admitted that Aston Martin, despite a recent run of good form, may struggle in some of the final seven Formula 1 races of this season.
The Silverstone-based squad saw a significant upturn in performance at the Hungarian Grand Prix, scoring a double points finish having been at the foot of the field the previous week in Belgium.
Both Alonso and team-mate Lance Stroll scored points, and at the resumption of the season after the summer break, repeated the feat at Zandvoort.
Alonso was also on for a top 10 finish in Monza before a bizarre suspension failure took him out of contention.
However, last week’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix was a significant shift back towards mediocrity again, as both drivers finished outside the points.
The AMR25 improved amid upgrades that clicked at the Hungaroring, but Alonso, speaking to media including Motorsport Week after the race in Baku, explained they are not a silver bullet.
“I think we have a car that has certain characteristics,” he said.
“Not the ones of Monza, not the ones of Baku and not the ones of Vegas or Mexico. I suspect in Vegas and Mexico we’llbe at the back of the grid.
“There are another four races that hopefully we can take opportunities and score a few points.”
Alonso confesses to startline error in Baku
Alonso lined up 11th on the grid in Baku, but jumped the start at lights out, leading to a five-second time penalty dished out by the stewards.
Taking full responsibility for the error over team radio and after the race, Alonso explained it was a chain reaction from the jumpstart of Oscar Piastri, two places ahead of him.
“Yeah, in those moments, every movement that is happening in front of you, obviously, sometimes you react,” he said. “And, unfortunately, I reacted to Oscar.
Alonso concluded that the penalty made little difference to his eventual result in the race, citing poor race pace as to what held him and Stroll back.
“I don’t think that it changed my race at all. We had very slow pace, and the final position, I think, is exactly the same [as without the penalty].”
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