Aston Martin – Page 6 – Syndication Server

Krack confident Aston Martin downturn isn’t a trend

Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack says the team should not be solely judged on recent races but a wider sample set of venues and its progress compared to 2022. Fernando Alonso finished seventh at the British Grand Prix, just holding off …

Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack says the team should not be solely judged on recent races but a wider sample set of venues and its progress compared to 2022.

Fernando Alonso finished seventh at the British Grand Prix, just holding off Williams’ Alex Albon as he finished comfortably adrift of both McLaren and both Mercedes drivers. With Silverstone marking the first time Aston had gone two consecutive races without scoring a podium, Krack says it’s too short-sighted to only view the last two rounds as the barometer of how competitive the team is.

“We need to be careful trying to define a pecking order too quickly,” Krack said. “You will remember me saying this: we have swings up and down. We have seen in Austria, for example, the Mercedes were quite down; in Barcelona they were very strong. We were very strong in Canada — that’s not long ago — where we were fighting for the podium.

“So that’s why I always say we need to wait over two, three or four tracks to be really sure about where the pecking order is, and I think we can maintain that.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1388]

Aston Martin currently sits third in the constructors’ championship with 181 points, and Krack says even if it slips away from being able to fight for podiums on a regular basis, the improvement compared to last season — when the team scored a total of 55 points and a best finish of sixth place — has been substantial.

“I think the season is already a very respectable one if you see where we came from. We have six podiums in 10 races — even if it were six podiums in 22, I think it would be a very respectable season compared to where we’ve come from, what our targets over the season were. But we will not give up now and let it go.

“We need to not get deviated too much by single events. We need to wait two, three or four races to see where we are — like a rolling average in engineering terms. I think then before the [summer] shutdown we can have a better representation of where we are and this will allow us to define from the race expectation where we have to go.

“I think we have to consider that there are a lot of races coming up over very different characteristics to the previous ones. The calendar is such that you have lower-downforce races in the beginning — depending on how you classify them — and there are more races to come where maybe we can be better. These are all things that we have to see based on the analysis of the next three, I think.”

Aston Martin protests Austrian GP results as stewards acknowledge errors

Aston Martin has protested the results of the Austrian Grand Prix and the stewards have ordered a revisiting of the deleted lap times for track limits after errors were noted. The race at the Red Bull Ring saw more than 100 lap times deleted for …

Aston Martin has protested the results of the Austrian Grand Prix and the stewards have ordered a revisiting of the deleted lap times for track limits after errors were noted.

The race at the Red Bull Ring saw more than 100 lap times deleted for drivers exceeding track limits, and penalties handed out to Carlos Sainz, Lewis Hamilton, Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, Esteban Ocon, Logan Sargeant, Yuki Tsunoda and Kevin Magnussen during the race for repeat infringements.

Aston Martin protested the race result that was published, claiming “that a number of cars were not penalized for a breach of Article 33.3 of the Sporting Regulations” — relating to track limits — but that protest has led to another move by the stewards to ask for the race results to be reviewed.

“In the meantime, the Stewards, having become aware of the existence of a number of deleted laps (due to exceeding track limits) that were drawn to our attention after the receipt of the protest, have requested race control to perform a reconciliation of all deleted laps with penalties applied.”

Aston Martin’s protest is most likely to be targeting the cars within 10 seconds of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, with Alonso within that window of Sainz in fourth and Lando Norris in fifth, and Stroll 10th but just 1.3s behind Gasly.

‘I’ve got to get better’ but results don’t tell the full story – Stroll

Lance Stroll admits he needs to improve his performances heading into the Austrian Grand Prix but feels his results haven’t fully reflected his pace this season. Aston Martin is currently third in the constructors’ championship with 154 points, of …

Lance Stroll admits he needs to improve his performances heading into the Austrian Grand Prix but feels his results haven’t fully reflected his pace this season.

Aston Martin is currently third in the constructors’ championship with 154 points, of which Fernando Alonso has scored 117. Alonso’s results include six podiums while Stroll has a best finish of fourth in Australia, and after a run of 10 points from four races the Canadian says he needs to work on a number of areas now he’s recovered from his pre-season broken wrists.

“I think we started the season strong, all things considered,” Stroll said. “Bahrain, Jeddah, Melbourne I think were good, and then we hit a bit of a rough patch after Baku, but I know why. Miami was tough because we didn’t put the second set of tires on in Q1, Monaco we had some damage in Q2, Barcelona we were competitive again, then in Canada we had some issues in Q2.

“I think there’s been reasons why it hasn’t been good, but in terms of outright pace, he (Alonso)’s been more on top of it than me — he’s been quicker, he’s been driving incredibly well. I don’t think I’ve, or we’ve as a team, gotten the most out of our weekends, so don’t think it’s shown, some of the true results. There’s definitely some work to do, some things to improve, Fernando’s at a very high level and I’ve got to definitely work on a few things and get better.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1388]

Stroll believes there are small details that have cost him in many races this year but concedes Alonso — who he describes as “the best teammate I’ve ever had” — is able to get more pace out of the car than he has so far.

“It is details, and it is circumstances. Like in Miami trying to get out of Q1 on one set, he did the same as me — he just got through by a tenth and I missed it by a tenth, I’m 17th and he’s going to Q3. Same thing in Monaco, we had floor damage, you can’t recover — you start 12th, 13th and that cost us the weekend.

“Canada was a very tricky session, but when I look at the other weekends it’s been small details, things to work on, but he’s still been quicker, for sure. So I’m definitely focused on the things I’ve got to work on, and this weekend is another opportunity to do that.”

While Stroll feels a tenth here and there has cost him, he admits Alonso’s consistent pace has beyond his capability to match. Andy Hone/Motorsport Images

The 24-year-old doesn’t feel his lack of pre-season testing has overly hurt his potential to get performance out of the 2023 Aston Martin, now that he is no longer feeling the effects of his broken wrists that hampered him in the opening rounds.

“I think it’s a combination of things — there’s things from the car you’re always looking for, things from me. Yeah, I missed a tremendous amount of testing at the beginning of the season, that’s always a big thing, but like, in all honesty, Fernando’s been at a really really high level and even when I felt like some of my best days were really good days, he’s been that little bit quicker.

“I think he’s been doing it his whole career, been getting the most out of every car he’s gotten in; even when they weren’t winning cars he’s been able to win with them. And he’s demonstrating that again this season with this car he’s pushing to the limit and finishing pretty much behind Max (Verstappen) every race. It’s very impressive and I’m definitely motivated to push and get to that level.

“I don’t want to make excuses. There’s been days I felt great in the car and didn’t feel like I missed anything from testing, and then days where you want to try something — I don’t know, a decision to make after FP3 and before parc ferme and you don’t know what direction to go in because those are all the things you do try in testing and you learn a little bit about how the car behaves here and there.

“So yes and no; it definitely doesn’t hurt to do more laps in an F1 car but I’m feeling good in the car when the setup is working well. I don’t think I’m missing anything from testing.”

D’station Racing preparing new Aston Martin at Le Mans

Japanese FIA WEC GTE Am team D’station Racing is aiming to take part in today’s track action at Le Mans, after sourcing a brand-new Vantage AMR to replace its original car that was heavily damaged in Free Practice 1. The TF-Sport run team confirmed …

The TF-Sport run team confirmed the car’s arrival at the circuit, after being shipped overnight from the UK. The prep work is expected to be finished in time for the team to complete some laps later today.

“The guys are working hard on the car,” TF Sport owner Tom Ferrier told RACER. “They had an issue with a delay to the tub arriving. It was supposed to be here at 7am — it didn’t arrive until 9am due to a customs delay, which has set us back.

“The tricky bit at the moment is salvaging bits from the original car that have the right mileage and wear on them and will work well with the new parts. The aim is to be out for Free Practice 3 today, but if we have to skip one of those we won’t lose any sleep.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1416]

The team missed all of Wednesday’s qualifying and Free Practice 2 as a result of the incident, which saw Casper Stevenson lose the rear of the No. 777 and go head-on into the barriers on the run to Tetre Rouge.

He was then hit side-on at high speed by the Tower Motorsports LMP2 ORECA shortly after coming to a stop in the middle of the track. The ORECA was being driven at the time by Steven Thomas, who is here as a late replacement for the injured John Farano.

Thomas and the team were heavily penalized for causing a collision and failing to slow down under yellow, and will serve a three-minute stop-and-go during the race.

Making matters worse for Tower Motorsports, the damage from the impact also wrote its chassis off. Like D’station, Tower’s mechanics have had to scramble to prepare a new car.

Aston Martin chasing pace ‘kind of new for us’ – Alonso

Fernando Alonso says Aston Martin had to work hard to find pace in its car at the Spanish Grand Prix in contrast to other venues this season. Aston Martin was second in the constructors’ championship heading into the race in Barcelona, with Alonso …

Fernando Alonso says Aston Martin had to work hard to find pace in its car at the Spanish Grand Prix in contrast to other venues this season.

Aston Martin was second in the constructors’ championship heading into the race in Barcelona, with Alonso having finished second to Max Verstappen in Monaco. The Spaniard qualified ninth and started eighth after picking up damage in qualifying, but despite a repaired car he could only gain one position to finish seventh, his worst result of 2023 so far.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1388]

“The track was not the best for us,” Alonso said. “From FP1 we were on a completely different set-up from what we predicted so we had to work a lot during the weekend to be happy with the car, which was kind of new for us. We were always happy from FP1 while here we had to work a little bit more.

“The upgrades from the other people I think they maybe didn’t show the full potential in Monaco, Miami, street circuits, so here we saw today that maybe they are a little bit stronger. But I’m not worried, there’s going to be better weekends and worse weekends, and we will have our opportunity in Canada.”

Lance Stroll led Alonso home to ensure Aston Martin picked up 14 points on Sunday, and Alonso says the return is still a solid one given the lack of performance compared to Mercedes.

“I think we didn’t have the pace so that was the biggest problem. It was not that we were unlucky or different strategies or anything like that. It’s that we were slow compared to the Mercedes, slow on the soft, slow on the hard and we just concentrated on the Alpines, AlphaTauris and kept up the pace with the Ferraris.

“At the end of the day we outscored the Ferraris as they only scored with Carlos (Sainz). We lost points with the Mercedes but they have done a better job this weekend so let’s try the next one.”

Alonso calls out F1’s excessive negativity amid Aston Martin criticism

Fernando Alonso says Formula 1 doesn’t focus on positives enough as he defended Aston Martin’s tire call in the Monaco Grand Prix. Meeting F1 media ahead of his home race at the Spanish Grand Prix, Alonso found the main topic remained whether his …

Fernando Alonso says Formula 1 doesn’t focus on positives enough as he defended Aston Martin’s tire call in the Monaco Grand Prix.

Meeting F1 media ahead of his home race at the Spanish Grand Prix, Alonso found the main topic remained whether his Aston Martin team missed the chance to win in Monaco by fitting slick tires to Alonso’s car on a wet track, resulting in him needing to pit again one lap later. Alonso admits with hindsight it would have been better to switch to intermediates initially but that there’s not enough credit being given to the way the call was made at the time.

“Maybe if you have the crystal ball and you know the conditions, you know who stops and who doesn’t stop, and then finally it rains and you need the inters, then 100 percent you stop for inters,” Alonso said. “What I don’t like in Formula 1 is that we see always the negatives and we always see everything very easy from the sofa.

“I tell you an example: If we stopped for inters, this week we would only talk about the wrong decision of Red Bull stopping one lap too late. We would never have thought that Aston Martin was very brave and chose the right tire, we would only talk that Red Bull chose the wrong tire and stopped Max (Verstappen) one lap too late. This is just the mentality of the unlimited search for perfection, which is not possible to reach sometimes.

“So if you (are) put in our shoes and there was half of the track dry and half starting to get wet and we had a free stop and everyone behind was on dry tires, if we stop for dry tires and eventually we have to stop for wet tires, everyone stops for wet tires and we keep just the position. If we stop for inters and it doesn’t rain and everyone behind us is with drys and we need to stop for drys, then we fall to seventh. So if we take the wrong decision and finish P2 in Monaco, we took that.

“Now if we look at the race on TV again we will stop for inters, 100 percent yes, that was better. But in that moment, why didn’t Max stop for inters as well? He went one lap longer than me but with a different tire. Difficult to know, but as I said, the biggest thing is that at every race we never put enough prize to the right things that the teams, in very stressful moments, do. We always spot the one thing that they do wrong and then we go hard on them.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1388]

Ahead of this weekend’s grand prix in Barcelona, Alonso says he feels no closer to winning a race this season and that Aston Martin will need to improve the rate at which it brings upgrades to its car as it grows.

“We have some new parts. I’m not sure exactly what — you will see it on the documents that the FIA is releasing. I think front wing, there is some modification there and we are always bringing new parts to the car — some of them are circuit-specific and sometimes they are just an improvement in lap time.

“I am happy with how we are approaching every race. There is always something new on our car and we have to keep up the pace with the top teams. We are still growing in that area of the team, and we found ourselves in a competitive place this year that we didn’t expect.

“I think we still need to speed up things, because I still think Ferrari or Mercedes are already two floors into this season, and I think Mercedes had a completely new car in Monaco and more upgrades here. Red Bull had the Baku package and another one here. So we understand that we are not in that position yet, but we stay humble, delivering the job on Sundays and try to score more points than them.”

Alonso surprised by suggestion Aston error cost win

Fernando Alonso expressed surprise that his Aston Martin team’s pit decision in the wet conditions was called into question over whether it cost him an opportunity to win the Monaco Grand Prix. Aston Martin opted to start the race on the hard …

Fernando Alonso expressed surprise that his Aston Martin team’s pit decision in the wet conditions was called into question over whether it cost him an opportunity to win the Monaco Grand Prix.

Aston Martin opted to start the race on the hard compound tire in a move that appeared to open up more potential to make a pit stop of rain hit, as he would have a wider pit window than other drivers. That scenario is exactly how the race played out, with Alonso trailing Max Verstappen by under nine seconds when he made his first pit stop as rain started to intensify on lap 54. However, Alonso took on medium tires rather than the intermediates being opted for by those pitting directly before him — including teammate Lance Stroll — and had to then make another stop one lap later to reverse the decision at the same time Verstappen stopped from the lead.

“I don’t know, I heard this question in the TV pen as well — I was surprised a little bit,” Alonso said. “I didn’t live the race from the cockpit as probably you saw on the outside. For me, it was very clear that the track, on that lap we stopped, was completely dry apart from Turns 7 and 8. So how would I put on the inters? It was completely dry, 99% of the track. So I stopped for dries.

“The weather forecast, it was a small shower, a small quantity of rain as well what we had as a team. And we had a lot of margin behind us to put the dry tires and if necessary then the inter tires. Maybe it was extra safe. I don’t know.

“That minute and a half that it took to go through Turn 5, 6, 7 and 8 again, it changed completely. The outlap on the dry tires, it was very wet when I got to those corners. The lap that we stopped, it was completely dry.”

Given the fact Verstappen lost nine seconds on the lap Alonso came into the pits and stopped for intermediates himself as soon as the Spaniard came in, the lap times suggest if Alonso had made the switch to intermediates initially he’d have jumped the Red Bull. Regardless, he feels Aston showed its intent in opting for the alternate strategy in the first place.

“I think we didn’t have a chance (in the dry), to be honest,” he said. “I think we were brave on the strategy. It’s not normal that you start on the first row of the grid and you choose the hard tire, trying to do the opposite of the leaders. That shows the commitment from the team and how aggressive everyone was in Aston Martin to try and get the win.

“We knew there were some downsides to that strategy. We could have ended up maybe P5, P6 or something like that, off the podium. This morning we discussed it and we said we’d had podiums this year, so we go for all or nothing, and we start on the hard tire. And we didn’t have the pace. That was the only problem we had in the race.

“The strategy was good. The medium tire was behaving surprisingly good, in our opinion. We were hoping for more graining or bigger degradation, and Max was able to drive 50 laps on an amazing pace. That’s the reason why he won the race, not because of the strategy — he was just faster than us.”

His focus on a Monaco win, Alonso sets future plans aside

Fernando Alonso promises to “attack more than any other weekend” as he feels he has a chance to win the Monaco Grand Prix, but left unclear whether he’ll still be racing for Aston Martin when it partners with Honda in 2026. Aston Martin has …

Aston Martin has struggled with straight-line efficiency compared to Red Bull, but the low-speed nature of Monaco reduces the impact of that deficit. With Red Bull also enjoying a bigger advantage in races than in qualifying, the importance of grid position in Monaco opens up the potential for a slower car to hold on if out in front, and Alonso admits that’s on his mind.

“We are not thinking we are the strongest in Monaco — I don’t think it’s going to be a huge change compared to Baku, which is still a street circuit,” Alonso said. “I think Ferrari was outstanding in Baku — we could see another great weekend for them here — but then if I tell you that I don’t come here thinking that I can win the race, I would be lying to you.

“This is a one-off opportunity — we know Monaco, Singapore, there are specific racetracks where you need to gain the confidence in free practice, get closer and closer to the walls, and I will attack more than any other weekend, yes.

“There are couple of weekends like this one that I come here thinking that I will try to win. Maybe it’s our worst weekend and we are out of the points — you never know, it is a very specific circuit — but there are these kind of one-off opportunities that you try to maximize.

“We saw a gearbox failure for Max (Verstappen) in Saudi in Q2; we had problems in Checo (Perez)’s car in Australia all through free practice and qualifying, so if one of those things happens on a Sunday, automatically you close the gap massively and it starts to be more interesting. So the championship is long and we will not give up.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1388]

Honda’s full works manufacturer return with Aston Martin led to questions about the Japanese manufacturer working with Alonso again in 2026 — saying it “will have no objections whatsoever” if he’s still racing at that time — but the Spaniard says it’s too far in the future for him to consider.

“I don’t know what I will do in 2026. I would be lying if I tell you that I know right now. For sure I feel fresh, I feel motivated now, I feel sharp, still fast, and if I keep enjoying I would love to keep racing. But I know that one day I will wake up and I will not feel maybe motivated or happy to keep traveling and all these kind of things. Or maybe I don’t feel fast and I will be the first one to raise my hand and say maybe it’s time.

“Let’s see. I think it’s a long way until 2026. I will focus first of all in Monaco, now, because I think it’s an important weekend, and then this season. The next one, hopefully we can make another step and fight for bigger things.

“And then racing again with Honda, no, it’s going to be no problem at all from my side. I know that it didn’t work out last time in 2015, ’16, ’17. It was even worse maybe for some of my teammates like Stoffel (Vandoorne) or whoever, coming from dominating F3, F2 and then joining the project that maybe was not fully ready back then. But I think they proved that they have a competitive package now. They won the championship in ’21, they won the championship in ’22, most likely will win the championship in ’23, so I think they now have a very strong package. It’s a new set of regulations but I think it will be a very exciting project, for sure.”

F1 chief notes move to sustainable fuel was key to Honda return

Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali says Honda and Aston Martin will form an “exciting partnership” that is testament to the direction the sport is taking with power units. Honda has confirmed it will return to F1 as a full works supplier to Aston …

Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali says Honda and Aston Martin will form an “exciting partnership” that is testament to the direction the sport is taking with power units.

Honda has confirmed it will return to F1 as a full works supplier to Aston Martin from 2026 onwards, having stepped back at the end of 2021 to be currently providing technical support to Red Bull Powertrains. Part of Honda’s reasoning is the move to a 100% sustainable fuel and increased electrical output as part of the new regulations, something Domenicali says is proving popular with manufacturers.

“It is great news for Formula 1 that Honda will partner with Aston Martin to supply power units from 2026,” Domenicali said. “This is further evidence that our global platform and growth provides brands with huge potential, and it also shows that our plans to move to sustainable fuels in 2026 is the right approach to offer the automotive world alternative solutions to decarbonize the planet.

“We can all see the incredible commitment Aston Martin has made to our sport and we can’t wait to see the exciting partnership in action, and I want to congratulate both parties on this exciting news.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1388]

Honda joins Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull Ford Powertrains, Alpine and Audi as power unit manufacturers with confirmed partnerships for 2026 with Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) president Koji Watanabe saying it found a team in Aston Martin that shares its desire to win titles.

“The Aston Martin Formula 1 team and Honda share the same spirit, and together, we will take on this new challenge,” Watanabe said. “In this project, HRC will design, develop and manufacture the power unit optimized for Aston Martin’s F1 chassis configuration, and supply it to them. And Aston Martin F1 team will design, develop and manufacture the chassis, as well as handling the team management.

“Aston Martin F1 is a team with a lot of momentum, including a construction of a new factory, and they are currently working on various measures to strengthen the team to strive for winning the F1 championship title. As they have given the high marks to our F1 power unit technology, and we can relate to the attitude, and also a strong passion to win, we decided to work together and strive for the championship title as Aston Martin Honda.”

Krack keen to avoid complacency creeping in after Aston Martin’s strong start

Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack says it’s important that the team does not take its newfound status as a regular podium finisher for granted after Fernando Alonso earned his fourth in five races at the Miami Grand Prix last weekend. Aston …

Aston Martin’s rise has been one of the big stories of the Formula 1 season so far. The team finished seventh in the constructors’ standings last year with a pair of sixth places as its best race results, but this year’s AMR23 came charging out of the blocks to establish the team as best of the rest behind the dominant Red Bull Racing.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1388]

Alonso started from second and finished third behind the two Red Bull drivers in Miami, comfortably easing away from any threat from the likes of Mercedes and Ferrari behind. The Spaniard is currently third in the drivers’ championship — the only race to date where he didn’t score a podium was Baku, where he still finished fourth — but Krack says the latest trophy still feels special.

“Feet on the ground,” Krack said. “You should never take a podium in F1 as a normal, or as a given, because it’s a lot of hard work involved to be on the podium, and you have very, very strong competitors in F1, very professional. If you are not 100% in all areas at all times, then there is no podium.”

Aston Martin’s rise comes at a time when the form of Mercedes, Ferrari and Alpine has fluctuated. Krack says the early success is a sign of the team’s development during the winter, but points out it has also made errors.

“It shows we are a strong team,” he said. “It shows that we are not taking gambles, we are not playing the lottery, but we are making choices based on data, based on the results we have. That is also one of the reasons why we can be as consistent. But we made quite a big mistake (not sending Lance Stroll out for a second Q1 run in qualifying), so we have been fault-free until then…”

According to Krack, Aston Martin’s early-season consistency leaves him with fewer question marks over the car’s potential at certain tracks.

“I think Monza and Las Vegas. Spa, maybe,” he said. “But there is still time until then, so we can do some development. As a team it’s good; you need to learn how your car behaves, how your car is compared to the competition. We hear left and right that Mercedes will have big steps coming, so we must not let up, but we must not focus on a single race, like Monza or whatever. We’ll take them as they come and try to do the best.”