Aston Martin The 2024 F1 season has started far from the podium. After an exciting 2023, Fernando Alonso And with the green project, the Asturian has achieved six podiums in the first eight races, with the team Silverstone He struggled to evolve his car at the same pace as the big F1 factories and was overtaken by Ferrari and Mercedes.

Despite this, Fernando was able to score two more podiums over the course of the year, for a total of eight podiums. One of the team’s main goals for 2024 was to build a vehicle base that could certainly undergo significant evolution with the arrival of new parts, both race by race and on an ongoing basis.

The car has improved since last year, but so have our competitors. Simple. After seven tests, especially Aston Martin, a key package of evolution at Imola, has yet to take the expected steps that would allow it to distance itself from teams like RB (Ex-Toro Rosso) and stood out in the middle zone, and since last year he has been getting closer and closer to his opponents.

What’s wrong with Aston Martin? We analyse the key aspects of the team situation at Silverstone.

Increasing competition

Podiums are more expensive

Certainly last year Aston Martin started much better and were always on the podium. But we mustn’t forget that it was also fuelled by the failure of big groups such as Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren with their initial 2023 car concepts.
These great and historic factories failed at the start, with Aston Martin trailing Red Bull alone at the start of the year. McLaren had to scrap their car from the beginning of 2023 and create a completely new one that would allow them to be behind Red Bull from Silverstone. Ferrari had improved their car throughout the year, which had degraded the tires too much, leaving Aston Martin behind. And Mercedes had changed their failed “zero pontoon” car concept, which would eventually see them overtake Aston Martin.
Unlike last year, in 2024 Ferrari and McLaren are already on equal footing with Red Bull. Among the big names, only Mercedes is not there yet. And teams like RB have made a big step forward. The situation is very different and he spoke about it Aston Martin team principal Mike Clueck said: “At this time last year we were scoring more points than we are now, but we have to be realistic. Some of our facilities are not in place and are still under construction.“So it is in those moments and situations that we learn the most to gauge where we are in terms of the progress of the project,” he argued.

The facility is still under construction

What if you’re not ready yet?

Speaking to reporters at the team’s hospitality before the Imola Grand Prix, Aston Martin team principal Mike Clack offered some interesting thoughts on the points standings, some of which may prove useful for this season. “Last year we had a lot of podiums in the first races. But we need to understand how it happened. Some teams didn’t do their homework last year. And we did just that. This put us in the following situation: Maybe the team and the project just weren’t ready.”.
What if that isn’t happening yet? Aston Martin is a team under construction, trying to compete against fully established teams with all the tools available, a lot of history, a factory where all the elements are performing to the maximum. Aston Martin is not like that. Aston Martin is in the process of preparing all the tools available to be a great team. They have signed a lot of engineers from big teams, they have a champion like Alonso as a driver, but they need more people. Last year they went from a small factory to a huge headquarters at the highest level, and the middle of the track movement is already starting. And it has to be greased.
“Two years ago we had 250 people in this team and now we’re just a few points behind the top teams in the constructors’ championship,” Fernando Alonso said last year.an important reflection that should not be forgotten and may be key: the team wants to go from a small team to a huge team, but it takes time.
Aston Martin’s goal will be to reach the top within the next few years. Despite last year’s strong results, it’s probably too early to say now. The team shouldn’t lose focus because of that, and that’s what Kluck said. The important thing is to make sure the project follows a general upward trajectory, and that it’s normal to have positive and negative peaks. “Whenever you try to create a line, after many years there’s always going to be a little bit of wobble around the line.”quarrel.

The wind tunnel is currently under construction (due for completion at the end of 2024)

And the simulator, 2025

When referring to the fact that Aston Martin still lacks the tools to become the championship team it wants to be, undoubtedly we have to talk above all about two elements that are currently being built: its own wind tunnel and a new simulator updated to the current needs of Formula 1. Aston Martin’s wind tunnel is due to be up and running by the end of 2024, allowing work on the 2025 car to be carried out there, while the simulator is due to be operational during 2025, MD has learned.
This is a key element in making a car. And here we have to reflect again. McLaren has not stopped progressing since they launched their new wind tunnel until they reached the pinnacle. Ferrari, which has its own wind tunnel, has always been there. Followed by Aston Martin and Mercedes. Both teams have been struggling and the progress represents an important step forward for the cars. Is it a coincidence that Aston Martin uses Mercedes’ wind tunnel while both teams are struggling with development? This relates to the first and second points of this article. For Aston Martin to be ready to compete against the best, the wind tunnel and simulators need to be running at maximum performance so the green team’s engineers can make the difference.
I must add to this Aston Martin is a team that has proven over the past two years that it takes longer than its rivals to find the right car set-up. When they introduce evolution. The green team must continue to improve in that area as well. As part of the construction process.
For 2026, regulation changes and new engines mean Aston Martin will no longer be a customer team and will be powered by Honda engines, but will not share them with anyone else. They will also have a better-oiled factory, a wind tunnel and a new simulator, plus a beefed-up team of experts. It took Mercedes six seasons to win the title in F1’s last era; Red Bull, five. Time and the combination of all the ingredients will be key. And it’s still early.

Mercedes suspension

Another key point may be the fact that it shares its suspension with Mercedes. As Aston Martin is a frame-engine customer for Star, they decided to use the same gearbox and have the same rear suspension configuration.Meanwhile, McLaren, which also uses a Mercedes engine and its gearbox, uses a reverse rear suspension configuration, just like Red Bull. Oddly enough, one of Aston Martin’s biggest problems this season has been the rapid degradation of their tyres, which is rumoured to be caused by this type of suspension. However, Aston Martin’s performance director, Tom McCullough, said a few weeks ago that Aston Martin was “Happy” is currently on hiatus.

Car becomes difficult to drive after modification

Aston Martin started the season with a very fast car over one lap but that performance faded in the race due to heavy tyre degradation and they were unable to maintain their good pace on Sunday. As Aston Martin released parts to increase the car’s downforce and reduce drag, the car gradually lost its main strength: speed when turning.
And furthermore, with the arrival of the evolution at Imola, at least in that race, The car lost its drivability at its best. Mike Clack realised after the Italian race that Aston Martins had become difficult cars to drive. It’s a very complicated car to push to the limits and the car doesn’t give the driver any confidence when he tries to push it to the limit. And that was evident in Alonso’s two outings at Imola on Saturday, and then in Monaco, where the Asturian has already warned that if he fails to improve, “going fast can become torture” behind the wall in a car that is so difficult to drive at the limit.

Imola was not a very representative song.

Imola has very specific and complex characteristics That means what you see there may not be entirely real because of the high kerbs that the cars jump over. Mike Clack echoed the sentiment, but so did other teams, such as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Clack called for patience and decided to let the engineers study the data Fernando Alonso had collected during the race with a very experimental set-up, as well as data from Asturias and Stroll in Friday’s free practice sessions.
“You’re always so quick to jump to conclusions.”“I think the same thing happened to us in Mexico in 2023, and then the next week we were on the podium (in Brazil). So I think in Germany they’re saying, ‘Let’s keep the church among the people.'” Let’s analyze what we are. Imola is very special. Especially compared to Miami. It’s a traditional track. Very rough, with holes, very high curbs… We will try to be even stronger next week. “quibble. The Brazilian example is not helpful, as it was a perfect route for last year’s car. And it feels like Aston Martin is lagging behind in progress compared to its rivals. We have already warned Alonso: “If we can’t get three out of ten every two or three races… it will be difficult.”

They will continue to try

“This is not our last bullet, and it never will be,” Pedro de la Rosa told MD. and Fernando Alonso played down these developments before the Imola Grand Prix, stressing that more and more parts would arrive with each race.
Aston Martin will continue to bring in parts to keep them progressing, but before that they will need to draw clear conclusions from the news at Imola, which showed that they have not been able to make as big a leap forward as McLaren with their latest package. They will continue to tryjust behind Aston Martin, but they know they have to respond because the gap is huge and the competition is fierce.