In an effort to address its problems, Aston Martin went back to an earlier design from the Japanese Grand Prix in Brazil after failing to gain points in the previous three races.
And now heading into the penultimate round of the season, the Qatar Grand Prix, the Silverstone-based team will be looking to end their season on a high.
Aston Martin eyes major points haul in last races of 2024 F1 season
With only two more races to go, Aston Martin currently stand 5th in the Constructors Championship with 86 points. Fernando Alonso is 9th in the drivers’ championship with 62 points. While his teammate, Stroll is 13th with 24 points.
After a difficult year, Aston Martin’s focus is on scoring as much points as possible to end the 2024 season on a high.
Disappointment in Vegas, hope for the future: Alonso’s take on Aston Martin’s struggles
According to Fernando Alonso, “every point is gold” for the team right now because the team is consistently having trouble. For most of the race at Vegas, Alonso had been in the points until Perez pushed him right outside points.
Alonso has not been in the top 10 since the Singapore Grand Prix, and it extended the Spaniard’s losing run. Since the Hungarian Grand Prix in July, Lance Stroll has not scored a single point.
“I think every point is gold for us at the moment, even if we are not fighting for many important things, I think it’s good to give something back to the mechanics and to everyone in the team, after all the struggles.” – Fernando Alonso.
Alonso and Aston Martin were able to draw some conclusions from Las Vegas, despite the disappointing results.
Alonso pointed out one area that, with improvement, might result in points being earned in Abu Dhabi and Qatar. He is aware that starting closer to the front in the last races is crucial for points. The Aston Martin driver has also acknowledged qualifying as Aston Martin’s problem.
After losing both cars in the first qualifying round last time around, the Silverstone-based team made significant progress on their one-lap performance from Vegas.
In Qatar, they were able to obtain both drivers in SQ2 this time, but they were unable to advance. It was a P11 grid spot for Alonso, narrowly missing P10 by one-tenth of a second. After traffic interfered with his run plan, Stroll was a bit farther behind in P14.
READ MORE: 2024 Qatar GP: Who Will Reign Supreme in F1’s Final Sprint Event?
Alonso sets sights on 2026, ready to challenge Max Verstappen
The 2024 season is something Aston Martin can forget and their main goal is 2026 for which Alonso cannot wait.
“At the moment, and for next year, we’re not in a position to fight for the World Championship. Maybe in 2026, with the new regulations, we could give it a try.
“Max has shown that he doesn’t have any weak points, he scored many points when the car was good, but also when it wasn’t competitive. If I had the chance, I could make his life difficult.” – Fernando Alonso.
Adrian Newey will have little time to influence the car that Aston Martin will race in 2026 under the new rules. He will be joining the team in 2025 as a Managing Technical Partner.
Nevertheless, Newey has demonstrated that he can still significantly influence a motorsport team regardless of the short amount of time.
Lawrence Stroll continues to make significant investments in Aston Martin despite the team’s performance completely collapsing after a promising start to 2023.
Although former F1 driver and current Aston Martin Team Ambassador Pedro de la Rosa acknowledges that Newey’s effect will take time, he has been renowned in Formula One as almost a certainty of success.
This move to Aston Martin allows Newey to get involved in projects outside of F1 like the Aston Martin Valkyrie hypercar.
Under Newey’s leadership, we have seen many drivers claim their championships. His designs are truly amazing and crafted with so much care. Aston Martin cannot wait for 2026 to run Newey’s design on track and potentially fight for the championship.
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