Fernando Alonso turns 42-years-old on Saturday at the Belgian Grand Prix; it might be another difficult weekend for the Aston Martin driver; watch the Belgian GP live on Sky Sports F1, starting this Friday with Practice and Qualifying as the third Sprint event takes place
Thursday 27 July 2023 13:03, UK
Fernando Alonso has admitted Aston Martin "need to understand" where their impressive pace from earlier in the 2023 F1 season has gone.
Alonso took six podiums from the opening eight events and was regularly Red Bull's closest challenger. However, he's finished fifth, seventh and ninth at the last three races in Austria, Britain and Hungary.
The decline coincides with a major upgrade package Aston Martin put on the car in Canada, where Alonso took second, but the track characteristics may have masked an update which has put the team in the wrong development direction.
"I think we weren't quick enough to challenge anyone in front, and we didn't have any threats behind. So three points, ninth and 10th, was the maximum in Hungary," explained Alonso.
"I think the last two races we are struggling a little bit. I think in Silverstone the Safety Car helped us in a way to finish seventh, which was a little bit better than our pace.
"In Silverstone and Hungary, ninth probably is our pace. So, behind the Mercedes, Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren, which is more or less what we saw in qualifying, and what we saw in the race."
He added: "I think in Silverstone we did expect to struggle a little bit, but in Budapest we thought to be a little bit stronger. It was not the case. So we try to analyse and get back strong in Spa.
"We need to see many things, it's up to us to understand a little bit better what is the car doing now compared to the beginning of the season, how many upgrades we brought compared to our main competitors, and then understanding the new tyres the best. They're the same for everybody, so we just need to do a better job."
Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack says the Hungarian Grand Prix was a "reality check" for Aston Martin as Alonso finished 75 seconds behind race-winner Max Verstappen and Lance Stroll was lapped by the Dutchman.
There were signs at the Spanish Grand Prix that Aston Martin didn't have an all-round car as Stroll and Alonso finished outside of the top five.
Since then, Mercedes appear to be back on track following their big upgrade in Monaco while McLaren have leapfrogged towards the pointy end of the grid.
Asked if Aston Martin was simply losing out in the development race, Alonso said: "Difficult to know. Every race we would love to understand, and we have many questions, but we never know exactly what is the cause of it.
"In Austria, [Nico] Hulkenberg and the Haas, they were fourth in qualifying, so we were all surprised. In Silverstone Williams was very fast, we were all surprised. In Hungary, Alfa Romeo was very fast, we were all surprised.
"But then in the race, normally everything balanced out and the big teams finish in front. We are just in the back end of those top teams. So we need to get back to the front end of that group.
"We always try to bring things as everybody does. So it's not that everyone will just finish the development and wait until next year. We will all try to bring stuff.
"Some of that stuff works better than expected sometimes, some works worse than expected, and hopefully the next step on our side is a good one."
Another potential reason for Aston Martin's drop in pace is the new tyre specification which was introduced from the British Grand Prix onwards.
In 2013, Pirelli made a mid-season change to the tyres which seemingly changed the pecking order as Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel largely dominated the second half of the year, winning the final nine races.
Pirelli say the new stiffer rubber shouldn't affect the tyre behaviour but Alonso suggested after Silverstone the changes have impacted the pecking order.
"Obviously it is still one factor that we still need to analyse a little bit more in detail in the next few races. I'm not a fan of changing the rules in the middle of a championship," the Spaniard said in Hungary.
"In sport, you change the balls in the middle of the tennis tournament or something like that, and it's what happens when we change tyres here, we change the rules in the middle of a Formula 1 World Championship.
"At the end of the day, is the same for everybody again, so we just need to understand the tyre the best we can, and hopefully extract the maximum. If there is any change. As I said, we're still not 100 per cent sure. We need couple more races to confirm anything. So far, they look very similar but we need to wait and see."
Thursday July 27
2pm: Drivers' Press Conference
Friday July 28
8.55am: Formula 3 Practice
10am: Formula 2 Practice
12pm: Belgian GP Practice One (session starts 12.30pm)
1.55pm: Formula 3 Qualifying
2.50pm: Formula 2 Qualifying
3.35pm: Belgian GP Qualifying build-up
4pm: Belgian GP Qualifying
6pm: Ted's Qualifying Notebook
Saturday July 29
8.55am: Formula 3 Sprint Race
10.30am: Belgian GP Sprint Shootout build-up
11am: Belgian GP Sprint Shootout
12.40pm: Formula 2 Sprint Race
2.30pm: Belgian GP Sprint build-up
3.30pm: BELGIAN GP SPRINT
5pm: Ted's Sprint Notebook
Sunday July 30
7.25am: Formula 3 Feature Race
8.55am: Formula 2 Feature Race
12.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday - Belgian GP build-up
2pm: THE BELGIAN GRAND PRIX
4pm: Chequered Flag - Belgian GP reaction
5pm: Ted's Notebook
Next up is the Belgian GP, the final race before F1's summer break - watch all sessions of the Sprint weekend live on Sky Sports F1 from July 28-30. Stream the Belgian GP and more with NOW.
