Fernando Alonso delivers brutal truth on Aston Martin’s shocking decline

Fernando Alonso has claimed Aston Martin are no longer “fighting for anything” in light of the team’s shocking decline over the second half of the F1 2023 season.

The Silverstone-based team started 2023 as the surprise package, with Alonso claiming six podium finishes in the first eight races and the team sitting third in the Constructors’ Championship after June’s Canadian Grand Prix.

然而,团队只记录一个讲台the last 11 races and have fallen to fifth in the standings behind Ferrari and McLaren.

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Alonso qualified in the top 10 at the first 17 rounds but has failed to reach Q3 at the last two races in the United States and Mexico, with development mistakes blamed for Aston Martin’s failure to sustain their strong start to the campaign.

After suffering his second consecutive retirement in Mexico, Alonso has admitted the season is effectively over for Aston Martin.

And with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz now level with him on 183 points, he is braced to fall behind McLaren’s Lando Norris, Sainz’s team-mate Charles Leclerc and Mercedes driver George Russell before the season concludes.

According to Motorsport.com, he said: “Honestly, we are not fighting for anything.

“We will learn, even if we have to start from the pit lane, and that is more useful than just spending the weekend [with a poor setup].

“In the Constructors’ Championship, we are locked in the position we are. In the Drivers’ Championship, we will lose a couple of places.

“It is incredible that we are in front of Ferraris – or George or Lando or whatever – but we will lose those positions. They have a very fast car. And yet, let’s see what we can do.”

With the attention of teams turning towards next season, Alonso is adamant that Aston Martin are working hard to get back on track and is hopeful that they will learn more from their current difficulties than their success at the start of 2023.

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“We are working as much as we can,” he said. “It’s not that we are just happy with the situation. It’s not the position we wish we were [in], but at the same time we are working very hard to reverse the situation.

“And sometimes you learn more from the difficulties than from the celebrations, so right now we have a difficult time.

“We are trying to do as many tests as possible, giving as much feedback as possible to the factory in Silverstone – and hopefully finish on a high and not on a low.”

While convinced that podium finishes are out of the question, Alonso is clinging to the hope that Aston Martin can still finish with a flourish across the final three rounds in Brazil, Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi.

When asked if the team can salvage their situation before 2023 is over, he responded: “I think so.

“We still need to go to three different places, three different circuits, which will give us more data again on the car.

“It depends on what we call finish on a high. If we think that we will fight for podiums or something like that, I don’t think so. But to finish in a competitive way, I think we still have the possibility.”

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