The Aston Martin is moving away from the podiums, but Fernando Alonso remains confident

The weather has been a bit less sunny for Aston Martin in the past few races. Already trailing behind in Austria, the Silverstone-based team didn’t really shine in their home Grand Prix. Faced with the speed of some and the progress of others, Aston Martin couldn’t make the most of the situation and had to settle for the best they had: a 7th place by Fernando Alonso.

On the other side of the garage, the race was chaotic for Lance Stroll. Starting with a strong comeback into the points, especially in the battle with Pierre Gasly, he pushed too hard in the second half of the race and made a mistake, resulting in an off-track excursion and forcing Pierre Gasly to retire after a collision. He finishes the Grand Prix in 14th place, far from the points and his teammate, and with a 5-second penalty given by the race stewards.

6 points, that is the total brought in by Aston Martin at Silverstone. A much lower number than their main competitor Mercedes, who brought in 25 points. But more important than the points tally is the development of the AMR23 which is raising questions. While Mercedes and McLaren made progress at Silverstone, Aston Martin showed nothing. However, for Fernando Alonso, who has achieved 6 podium finishes this season, there is nothing really worrying. The Spaniard explains that the Silverstone circuit was not suitable for the Aston Martin and that we must look beyond the performance of this season.

The incompatibility of the track with the Aston Martin

As was the case in Austria, the Silverstone track did not suit the Aston Martin team, who were unable to achieve anything better than a 7th place finish.

“« The track wasn’t the best layout for the package we had. We weren’t fast enough in all the sessions this weekend, and it wasn’t different in the race,” Alonso said after the race.”

However, the Spanish driver considers himself lucky to have been able to bring back this 7th place and even thought he could have done worse. « We tried to stretch the stint on the mediums at the beginning, then there was the safety car. We chose the soft tires because it was a short race in the end. It was a good strategy and thanks to all these calls, we took seventh place, a bit higher than the pace we had. Overall, I think we salvaged a very difficult weekend », he said.

But Alonso is not worried

Despite Aston Martin’s difficult performances in recent races, Fernando Alonso remains confident about the future and looks beyond this 2023 season.

« I’m not too stressed about the development,” Alonso said. « The car is better than expected this year. We’re fighting for things we probably couldn’t have dreamed of at the beginning of the year. If we can stay in the top 10 and compete with the best, that’s great. But I think we need to focus on the long term. We can’t stress ourselves out every weekend if we’re seventh, fourth, or on the podium. We need to be very pragmatic and relaxed about our performances,” the Spaniard explained » then.

Like a double world champion who is enjoying his career, Alonso is calm with Aston Martin and knows that the development for the coming years is far more important than that of 2023. However, will he still be an Aston Martin driver on the day the team is able to compete for victory on a regular basis? Assuming that day ever comes. For now, the Spaniard is still third in the world championship, but the gap with Lewis Hamilton is starting to slowly diminish.