The recent Italian Grand Prix at Monza was a tough outing for Fernando Alonso, who ended up just outside the points in 11th place. He had a strong start, passing Haas’s Nico Hulkenberg, but his performance declined as the race progressed.
Alonso initially appeared to be on track for a points finish, comfortably running in the top ten. However, as the race neared its end, he lost ground to Alex Albon and Kevin Magnussen.
“I’m disappointed because we had a great start, overtaking Nico [Hulkenberg], and our two-stop strategy was solid—we even undercut Alex [Albon] at one point and were running P9 pretty comfortably,” Alonso shared via Formula 1.
Unfortunately, his second pit stop disrupted his momentum, leading to missed opportunities as he finished just a second behind Albon and a tenth behind Magnussen.
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In the closing laps, Alonso narrowly missed out on scoring points when he couldn’t take advantage of Magnussen’s 10-second penalty, leaving him frustrated.
This latest disappointment comes after Alonso had seen more promising results in previous races. Aston Martin holds a fifth-place spot in the constructors’ championship, currently 40 points clear of Red Bull, but the team is looking to reassess its performance as the season continues.
“I hope we can identify what’s going wrong because we definitely need to improve,” Alonso remarked, expressing hope for better results in the upcoming Baku race.
His teammate Lance Stroll had a rough weekend too, finishing at the back. “[The pace] was as expected, just not competitive this weekend,” he admitted.
As Aston Martin gears up for the Baku race, whispers about Adrian Newey, a legendary engineer in Formula One, joining the team have surfaced. An official announcement is anticipated ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
After nearly 20 years with Red Bull, Newey is set to leave in 2025, and Aston Martin is keen on augmenting its lineup with top-tier talent under Lawrence Stroll’s leadership, looking to tap into Newey’s vast experience to boost their car’s performance.