Aston Martin Upgrades May Have Backfired for Lance Stroll

However, things didn’t get much better from there. Given the upgrades the Aston Martin team made heading into the race, both Alonso and teammate Lance Stroll expected to do much better. It was so bad that it’s worth wondering if the upgrades actually did more harm than good for Stroll, adding insult to injury for the Aston Martin team.

“Not the day we were hoping for, the weekend we were hoping for, with the upgrades we’ve brought, not competitive enough,” Stroll said.

To be fair, Stroll ended up having a good race, at least considering the circumstances. The Montreal native qualified in 13th place but managed to finish ninth, earning him two points.

Coming off three straight finishes outside of the top 10 for Stroll, those are two big points for him and the Aston Martin team. It was also Stroll’s third-best finish of the 2024 season.

However, those two points for Stroll are the slimmest of silver linings for the Aston Martin team. They arrived in Italy with what they called an “aggressive” plan to turn the tide on what has been a disappointing and frustrating season thus far.

Before Alonso’s crash, internal expectations for the Aston Martin team were certainly raised. But following the crash, even team principal Mike Krack had to admit that it either wasn’t enough or that the changes may have potentially backfired on Alonso and Stroll.

While maintaining that the car was made quicker by the upgrades, Krack also admitted that the AMR24 was “difficult to drive” after the upgrades the team made. Stroll, meanwhile, tried to remain positive and tow the company line after the race in Imola.

“I think everything was working, it’s just not good enough, so we keep pushing,” said Stroll. “It feels the same as it felt all year, we’ve brought upgrades, they might’ve helped a bit, but I think we need much more to catch teams further up the grid.”

At the same time, Stroll did show some frustration with his comments once the weekend was over: "The other teams are looking competitive. And we’re just not competitive enough at the moment.”

Stroll’s frustration is understandable with just one more race in Monaco this weekend before his homecoming in the Canadian Grand Prix on June 9. For that F1 race and others, there are many Canadian sports betting sites that offer betting markets on sporting events from all over the world.

With the Canadian Grand Prix on the horizon, there is a new sense of urgency for Stroll and the entire Aston Martin team. By the time they leave Montreal after the June 9 race, the season will be almost half over. Slowly but surely, time is starting to run out.

Red Bull Racing is within striking distance of AMA for fifth place in the F1 standings. Based on the failure of the team’s changes in Italy last weekend, there is still a lot of work to do and adjustments that still need to be made.

To be fair, last week’s struggles in Italy could be considered a blip on the radar for Alonso. He had previously finished in the top 10 of every other race this year. Stroll’s results could also be considered a positive sign, as he overcame his 13th-place starting point and earned his third top-10 finish of the year.

On the other hand, after those “aggressive” changes backfired so spectacularly, the Aston Martin team could be at something of a crossroads. After all, every other team is also trying to make changes on the fly, putting Aston Martin behind the curve. That’s perhaps why the “aggressive” approach in Italy last weekend may have done more harm than good. Of course, the season is far from over and the Aston Martin team will keep trying to find the winning formula.

“Other people are also bringing upgrades, so it is always a relative game,” says Krack. "It's tough, we must not underestimate that. I think, except (for) one team, everybody has a list full of upgrades, so it shows how competitive the whole field is. We have to really keep pushing and bringing more stuff."