Aston Martin Reserve Driver Stoffel Vandoorne has revealed how the team is targeting a consistent fight with both Ferrari and Mercedes across the 2024 Formula 1 season.
The Silverstone squad began last season as the surprise package by emerging as Red Bull’s closest contender, with Fernando Alonso logging six podiums in eight races.
However, Aston Martin stumbled in the development race, enabling Ferrari and Mercedes to accelerate beyond the side with the introduction of revised car concepts.
Meanwhile, McLaren’s remarkable mid-season resurgence demoted Aston Martin further, despite Alonso capitalising on a late improvement to secure a podium in Brazil.
But Vandoorne believes the harsh lessons that the team endured through the season will stand it in good stead to remain competitive during the upcoming campaign.
“Well, obviously, last year was a little bit of a surprise, I would say, in terms of how competitive we were at the start of the season, and then we obviously had this bit of a slump and then kind of got back towards the end of the year,” Vandoorne told Motorsport Week ahead of the second round of the 2024 Formula E season in Diriyah.
“There was a lot of learning being done during that period of time. But, yeah, to know exactly how competitive we’re going to be starting this year is very hard to know.
“I mean, the others aren’t standing still as well. Red Bull, obviously, is the benchmark at the moment, and that’s not an easy one to beat, let’s say, for anyone at the moment. So they’re definitely going to be up there. They’re seen as the benchmark right now.
“But then you have the likes of Mercedes, Ferrari that are the big players as well.
“So I think the target is to compete with them on a more regular basis. But we’ll have to wait and see where we rank up exactly.
Formula E has become a hub for many former F1 competitors, with Vandoorne not the only driver to combine his racing duties in the all-electric series with an F1 test role.
Reigning FE champion Jake Dennis conducts simulator work with Red Bull and got the opportunity to drive the squad’s RB19 car in FP1 for last year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
When asked whether he ever discusses F1 matters with Dennis during FE events, Vandoorne said: “Not really, to be fair. No. I mean, we don’t speak about that too much.
“Obviously in the F1 world, there’s high confidentiality between the teams and we won’t ever share any technical stuff anyway.
“You might have a chat about certain stuff, but I would say we speak more with WEC drivers, because there’s a lot of us here that are doing WEC as well and we kind of see each other in that paddock as well. So I would say that’s more of a talking point sometimes.”
