Aston Martin are turning out the be the biggest disappointment of the 2023 Formula 1 season, after starting the season on a high - Fernando Alonso claiming seven podiums when times were good - but all in the team will have to dig deep now to return to their podium-winning ways.
The veteran Spaniard showed that with a half-decent car, he was still very much in samurai mode when it came to F1. After the Canadian Grand Prix, eight races into the Championship, Aston Martin were third in the Constructors' points table on 154 points but only 13 points adrift of Mercedes in second. By then Red Bull were runaway leaders.
Since then, in the past eight races and 16 Rounds into the title race, they have only scored 67 points despite Alonso' gargantuan efforts every time he slides into the AMR23. A car that for the first half of this season was second in the pecking order, at least in the Spaniard's hands.
Looking ahead to the Qatar Grand Prix, team boss Mike Krack provided an update on the team's plans for the remaining six races: "Continuous development has been our philosophy all year. There are still some developments in the pipeline that will appear on the car all the way to Abu Dhabi.
"With stable regulations for next year, these developments will feed into the new car. So we will not take our foot off the gas at all. We will keep pushing and we want to conclude the season strongly.”
After Monaco, Aston Martin were second in the F1 standings behind Red Bull
But those early days of the season are increasingly distant memories, Krack's target now is: “At least fourth. That’s the objective with six races to go. We are currently fourth in both championships and we should not forget we have had some amazing results and seven podiums this year.
"With every race, we continue to learn and grow together as a team. We are in a fierce battle with some exceptional competitors, but we will not go down without a fight."
Krack acknowledged that times have been tough: “The last few races have been challenging in terms of performance, operations, and reliability. We need to be at 100% with our operations and our reliability if we are to add performance and do a better job for Lance and Fernando.
"Lance was forced to park the car with the rear wing issue, while Fernando picked up four points. To be honest, that’s not the level we expect of ourselves. We need to keep our heads down and keep fighting.”
To fight, F1 drivers need the weapons to do so effectively
Of course, Alonso will scrap with what he has but that elusive win #33 remains... elusive! With him "fighting" is a guarantee but not so with Stroll who has been thoroughly humbled in the sister car. Of the 221 points scored thus far by Aston Martin, Alonso scored 174 of those!
Heading to Qatar Grand Pix, Krack for the first time as Aston Martin team boss looked ahead: “It is nice to be back racing in Qatar. There is a mix of medium-speed and high-speed corners – similar in many ways to Suzuka – so we can expect similar fortunes, to be honest. We will take the learnings from Singapore and Japan and try to take a step forward.
"Everybody in the team can play their part: we all have to dig deep if we want to turn the tide," was Krack's war cry, to a team that had seriously underdelivered until the start of this season, becoming darlings of the F1 paddock while the 'awakening' lasted. But lost the plot in the latter half of the season and are now struggling to find it.
Big Question: How serious is Lawrence about this F1 team? Or was it just a vanity project for Lance to be in F1?
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