Fernando Alonso has downplayed the concerns raised by Aston Martin’s Managing Technical Partner Adrian Newey regarding some of its crucial Formula 1 technology.
The famed technical guru officially took up his role with the British marque in March and made his first appearance with the team at the Monaco Grand Prix last month.
Whilst stating that its new facility at Silverstone is “the best” in F1, Newey also conveyed a troublesome aspect of some of the equipment within it.
He revealed that its driver in the loop simulator [DIL] was, in his opinion, “weak,” describing it as a “handicap” and specualted that it could take two years to rectify.
However, Alonso has since quelled any potential panic within the team’s ranks, offering a more positive perspective on its simulator.
“Well I think all the simulators will have some kind of correlation issues to the real car,” Alonso told media including Motorsport Week.
“I don’t think that any team has a perfect simulator that you can trust 100 per cent because the car on the real track and the real life is very dynamic, and keeps changing always corner to corner and session to session.
“There are not two laps on the weekend that are exactly the same because the wind, because the temperature, because the traffic in front — all these kinds of things.
“So when you try to replicate that on a simulator, on a consistent and perfect environment, I think is very different.”
Alonso also offered a more positive timeframe for any resolution of its problems, saying: “I think it will take less than two years to fix our simulator.
“It’s not new. Maybe it’s the first time that Adrian said in Monaco that on the interview, but rest assured that drivers will mention it a couple of times already.”
Newey presence brings ‘focus’ and ‘truth’ to Aston Martin
Alonso was also full of praise for the 66-year-old, and said his presence and experience are bringing additional focus to the team, as well as enforcing a culture of truth within the team.
“It was fantastic,” Alonso said when asked about his first meeting with Newey.
“I think the way he sees things on the car, even statically on the pit lane or at the grid, also in the garage spotting some things that we could have done better or do better in the future.
“But also yes, his presence in the meeting room is always special, and I think not intimidating.
“But I think the level of the team was higher thanks to his presence because everyone was more focused, more into the details of the car.
“People talking in the meeting, they know that they cannot say anything too far from the truth, because he will spot it.
“I think that was great to witness, and I hope next year, with more races that he will come, we will keep learning from him and getting better as a team.”
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