Fernando Alonso says that overnight changes made for Saturday and lower temperatures helped Aston Martin to make the most of the AMR24 upgrade package in Hungary.
Alonso and team mate Lance Stroll qualified seventh and eighth with the revised car, albeit flattered a little by both Sergio Perez and George Russell being eliminated in Q1.
However the AMR24 was clearly benchmarked as the fifth fastest car on the day behind the McLaren, Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes in what was the team’s strongest qualifying performance for several weeks.
“I think we have to be very pleased with seventh and eighth,” said Alonso when asked by formu1a.uno about the session.
“Both cars in the top 10 again on a circuit that we were a little bit concerned if this was a circuit that could adapt to our package. So I think thanks to the new parts, we are a bit more competitive.”
“We found pace overnight. Also, we did a lot of changes to accommodate the new package, and I think the result is good. Obviously, points are given on Sunday, not on Saturday, so we need to finish the job tomorrow.”
He downplayed any frustration that the drivers had on Friday, when ultra hot conditions made it tricky for all drivers: “Yesterday we were playing a little bit with a few setup options. It’s not that I was unhappy or Lance was unhappy. I think they put some radio comments, as usual, a very low level of broadcasting, but it’s okay.”
He conceded that cooler weather and a damp track gave Aston a boost on Saturday.
“I think so,” he said. “I think like in Q1 when there are these mixed conditions of some drops of rain, but still on the slicks, I think that’s a condition that normally we like, and our car likes, because we put a lot of temperature on the tyre, and it’s the opposite when the when it’s too hot. So let’s see tomorrow. It’s going to be a bigger challenge for us.”
Regarding the updates Alonso said: “I think the lap time is showing that we are a little bit closer to the top teams, and we are not having the struggles that we had in Barcelona, or in Austria, for example, fighting in Q1.”
“But also as a feeling in the cockpit, you feel a little a bit more grip, more downforce in the corners, and this has more benefits as well, better tyre degradation, all these kind of things. So definitely a step forward.”
“I think it’s just a little bit of relief, a little bit of less pressure into the team bringing a package to the track that works as expected, and it worked fine. It was very much needed. So we’re happy for that. I’m happy for the team.”
Aston technical director Dan Fallows said on Friday that the updates are partly targeted at improving consistency, and Alonso admitted that a race distance will be the real test.
“Oh, definitely,” Alonso said. “I think more laps we do, the more we learn about the package. Yesterday was very interesting, today as well. And I think tomorrow in the race will benefit a lot.”
“I think the first two or three races when you introduce a new package are crucial to find the direction. So I think the team did a very good job last night, and we found performance today. Let’s find more tomorrow.”
