Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team failed to make their way to the points again in COTA. Fernando Alonso tangled with Alex Albon and consequently fell down the order. On the other side of the garage, Lance Stroll climbed up from the pit lane but failed to make a lasting impression finishing just ahead of his teammate in 15th. The Silverstone based team have made improvements from the beginning of the year but evidently still have plenty to find.
Alonso Makes Bold Statement Following Contact
The two-time world champion had a challenging start to weekend. As he was leaving the pitlane in Q1, a fire appeared at the rear of his AMR26. Despite slight concern from his pit wall, Alonso made it out on the track to complete a flying lap. His first flying lap left him on the cutoff of a Q1 exit. He improved on his second run but didn’t improve from 16th. The Aston Martin driver was fortunate that everyone behind him failed to improve. This was his third Q2 appearance of the year, a small win given where they started the year. Alonso’s qualifying would then end in Q2. He crossed the line in 16thwith a 1:35.818, 1.6 seconds off of the lead front runner. The world champion was promoted to 15th following a track limit violation from Ollie Bearman.
The Spaniard’s race day started off more positively. Due to three cars taking engine penalties ahead of him, he moved up the grid to 12th. The rest of his race unfolded in a disappointing way. Early contact with the Williams of Alex Albon meant the Aston Martin driver would suffer floor damage. Albon out braked himself into Turn 11 and found himself up the inside of Alonso’s Aston Martin. The contact left the latter unimpressed with him even voicing it to the media post-race.
“…The quality of drivers at the back is very low at the moment.” – Fernando Alonso told the media after the race
The contact saw the Spaniard tumble down the order to 17th where he never really recovered from. Initially he was supposed to be on a one stop, but the early contact meant he came in for a second stop on lap 42 for issues with his front wing. The world champion crossed the line in 16th He went from starting just outside the points to finishing in the bottom six. The weekend would prove to be one to forget for Alonso.
Stroll Gains From The Pit lane
Stroll failed to make it out of Q1 for the second race weekend in a row. His best lap left him in 18th. The Canadian was 4 tenths off the cutoff time of his teammate. Like Alonso, Stroll was promoted to 16th due to penalties. When Sunday rolled around, however, his side of the garage made the decision to start him from the pitlane. The 18-crew made set up changes alongside changes to his power unit. Another disappointing qualifying turned into an opportunity for improvement.
In the opening laps, Stroll quickly made work of the two Cadillacs on the soft tyre. His race stalled a bit from then onwards. On lap 14 he was called in the pits for his first of two scheduled stops. The switch to the medium tyre didn’t come with incredible pace but he clearly had more than Alonso’s damaged car. The Canadian spent a chunk of his race battling with the two Williams cars. In his last stint he kept a stead five second gap back to his teammate after the latter pitted for his second stop. Stroll’s final overtake would take place on Alex Albon promoting him up to 15th. An impressive gain in positions following the pit lane start.
The Aston Martin driver will hope to find similar qualifying performance to Malaysia out in Mexico next week.
Aston Need To Find More In Their Battle With Williams
Despite closing the gap considerably to rivals in front of them, Aston Martin still leave the weekend with more to find. With the team believing both drivers maximised the car, it’s clear there’s more performance to find.
The positives of the weekend would include another Q2 appearance for Alonso and the pace Stroll showed from the back. Both drivers finished ahead of both William’s, which although circumstantial was still a positive. The gap to William’s will need to see better gains that finishing the two places ahead of them, however, if they want to find the six points needed to surpass them.
Alonso will hope to have no further clashes, with Albon especially, considering P9 is at stake in the constructor’s championship.