From “This is a lovely car to drive” to “You have thrown me to the lions!”, Fernando Alonso has seen the full spectrum of performance this year with Aston Martin. What started off as a smooth ride in Bahrain, the Alonso hype train has come to a screeching halt in the past few races till Japan. There are multiple reasons for this drop in Aston’s performance. One of them was being left behind in the all-too-important development race. This may sound pretty odd, given the performance leap that the Silverstone team made over the last winter. So, is Aston Martin planning to give Alonso another similar leg up for 2024?

The 2023 season is pretty much done & dusted. Aston & Alonso know that the P2 in the constructors championship is getting out of their reach. Thus, they may have already shifted their focus to their 2024 challenger. Yet, Fernando would be very anxious to end this season way behind where he started in terms of his podium-level showings.

What has held back Fernando Alonso from increasing his podium tally?

Aston Martin’s AMR23 was a masterpiece of work at the start of the season. Fernando Alonso even hoped that they could close the gap to Red Bull to possibly take the first non-RB win of the season. After all, he had 6 podium finishes in the first 8 races of the year. However, as the season has progressed, Mercedes, Ferrari & even McLaren (yes, McLaren who finished last in Bahrain) have made huge gains with consistent upgrade packages. This has caught Aston Martin off-guard and shuffled them down the pecking order.

Aston Martin’s performance director expressed his views on the same. Speaking to Autosport, Tom McCullough said, “There are definitely some teams at the start of the year who were underperforming, who were taking a step back, we knew that they’d get back on top of that, most notably McLaren and Mercedes.”

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Even Aston Martin never expected to be so fast out of the blocks in March. Yet, when Fernando clinched those podium finishes in the initial races, everyone was genuinely impressed to label the AMR23 as the closest challenger to Red Bull’s RB19. Regardless, McCullough admitted that they have lost the development race this year to other teams doing a stronger job at making their car faster.

Still, Alonso & Co. doesn’t have to write off the rest of this season totally. McCullough has also cited how they are trying to bring some minor changes to the current car using their 2024 car plans. After all, whatever damage control they can do to stay in the mix is welcome. The two-time champion won’t mind getting another podium before the end of the year to close the season out on a good note.

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However, the majority of focus may be on their next year’s car to ensure Alonso & Lance Stroll can fight at the front. Still, that remains a tall ask, given Max Verstappen & Red Bull’s largely unchallenged supremacy.

Can Aston Martin give Alonso a winning car for 2024?

When Alonso got his Bahrain podium, he cited that they could get in the fight at the front only in 2024. As everyone has seen Red Bull’s pace this year, those comments can’t be any truer; Fernando has only got a sniff of victory in Monaco & Zandvoort. Many thought they could make some headway in the fight in Singapore, a track that suited Aston’s high downforce characteristics. However, Alonso ironically finished last of all who crossed the checkered flag.

So, the 42-year-old will hope that his team picks up a similar jump in performance as they did in 2023. Given they were 7th fastest last year, being the 2nd & 3rd fastest team this season is a big deal for Aston. Currently, they have the 4th fastest car. If they can replicate their miracle again, Max Verstappen may get some sweats from Fernando in Bahrain next year.

Fernando Alonso is desperate to win a 3rd world championship – 17 years since he won his last! Certainly, many would scoff at this idea, but given how Aston Martin has improved in leaps & bounds, one can never count Alonso out. Even with a car 2-tenths behind Red Bull’s pace, Fernando can eke out a title fight & perhaps finally topple the Dutchman’s supremacy. What do you think? Can Alonso & Aston bridge the gap in 2024?

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