“I think this weekend is one of my five best of all time,” said a happy Fernando Alonso after the race. After an excellent fifth position in Saturday’s qualifying, he delivered a very strong race. Aston Martin finished higher than many anticipated, especially at a circuit that – like Bahrain – is very demanding on the tyres.
THE AMR24 EXCEEDED THE TEAM’S EXPECTATIONS IN THE RACE
Fernando Alonso stated pre-race that P9 and P10 were the team’s targets based on simulator data. So, did the Silverstone-based team go beyond expectations? The answer is yes, according to team principal Mike Krack.
“So far, on average, we have been the fifth fastest team, sometimes maybe even the fourth, which means we normally fight between seventh and tenth position in the race.” stated the Luxembourg engineer. He then continued:
“If you qualify well on Saturday and the pace of those around you is very similar, then you can use the weapon of track position”.
This was precisely the case in Japan where the AMR24 was very evenly matched with Mercedes. What was most striking, however, was the low degradation of the Spanish driver’s car.
This was exactly the opposite of what happened in the first round of the season in Bahrain. In terms of tyre degradation, this circuit is similar in its harshness on tyres to Suzuka.
“While in Bahrain, we were nowhere, i.e. way behind the top four teams and way ahead of the rest. In Suzuka we were in the top group, even ahead of Mercedes, and that is very encouraging,” said Mike Krack.
Another positive was the consistency across qualifying and the race. If Bahrain, an average of 7 tenths was lost between qualifying and the race. In Japan, this value was more than halved (0.3 seconds). This is a big improvement, thanks to an improved understanding of the car and – of course – updates.
The first major update package on the Aston Martin was introduced in Japan. These featured a new sidepod, floor and beam wing. Aston Martin’s factory data anticipated a performance increase of about two-tenths.
THE UPDATE PACKAGE HAS GIVEN GOOD RESULTS IN TERMS OF CONSISTENCY OF THE RACE PACE BUT FURTHER CONFIRMATION IS NEEDED
The team principal of the English team confirmed that Aston’s upgrades were effective. However, they are yet to quantify the overall importance.
“We are still examining all the data collected to quantify the progress made. It’s something we have yet to discover.”
“The cars are complex, and sometimes you need a little more time to really understand how and how much you have improved.
“In our case it is even more difficult because we missed an important session on Friday. But it seems like the race pace was much better, I mean, more consistent than before.”
Although Stroll wasn’t particularly impressed, the team decided to fit the upgrades to Alonso’s AMR24 after FP2.
“When we make these decisions, we don’t just use the stopwatch – but we compare the data collected on the two cars,” said the team principal from Luxembourg.
Although the second package of updates only arrived in Japan on Friday for logistical reasons, Aston Martin had comparison work planned for free practice anyway. This was a decision informed by the team’s errors from last season.
“Last year we learned a lot, we put some of this into practice this Friday. It’s important to gain more and more confidence in your tools and the way you do things to progress,” Mike Krack said.
“I think this was one of the key lessons of last year during the winter. That will now also continue in the development of the AMR24. This is why we are quite confident that we are on a better path than 2023. “
Meanwhile, Aston Martin confirmed the new package has changed the balance of the AMR24, making it more consistent and less limited also in terms of setup.
In the race, comparing the two circuits with the highest degradation so far (Bahrain and Suzuka), Aston Martin recovered half a second from Mercedes and three-tenths from Ferrari.
However, Mike Krack says the team must remain calm. He wants to wait for “further confirmations in the next races.”
This well also be important in the negotiations, still ongoing, for the renewal of Fernando Alonso.
“The first step is to have entered the group of five leading teams. But we won’t stop.
“During the season, we will bring further updates to make Fernando happy and keep him motivated,” concluded the team principal of the Silverstone team.
