Amid ongoing rumors regarding his future contract negotiations set for 2025, Fernando Alonso continues to exert pressure on Aston Martin for perpetual car upgrades.
At 42, the Spaniard is rumored to be considering extraordinary moves to either Mercedes or Red Bull next year, after qualifying impressively in fourth place and securing fifth in the Saudi Arabian race.
Pedro de la Rosa, a longtime friend and now an ambassador for Aston Martin, emphasized, “The computers were not saying fifth, and that is because of the human factor. And thank goodness for that,” attributing the unexpected outcome to Alonso’s skill, indicating he’s exceeding the capabilities of the 2024 Aston Martin model.
Both Alonso and de la Rosa are adamant about the team’s need for genuine and ongoing development at each race of the season, suggesting that despite the car’s current pace, there’s an essential need for improvement to stay competitive.
“Let’s see how Australia turns out,” Alonso remarked, “I think we made a small step from Bahrain to Jeddah. We are fast on one lap but in the race, we can’t beat the McLarens and the Mercedes. We were just lucky to be in front of them. We have to find solutions for the next race.”
De la Rosa pointed out that Aston Martin’s main challenge is the excessive tyre wear during longer stints, in addition to last year’s hurdle of lagging car development.
“When you want and have to improve in F1, you can only achieve it with changes or improvements,” he noted. “This is no secret. The team’s objective is not to race with the same car for two races in a row. There is no improvement plan for Australia, but they are in the oven.”
De la Rosa emphasized the necessity for Aston Martin to demonstrate an upgrade program that matches those of the leading teams, indicating that while the team is progressing, comparisons with other teams might show lesser improvements, which could seem like a regression.
“You improve, but others improve,” he noted. “And compared to the others, sometimes your improvements are smaller, which seems like things are getting worse.”
GMM
