Aston Martin Formula 1 boss Mike Krack admits that the AMR24 “is not good enough” after another disappointing weekend in Zandvoort.
Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll started seventh and eighth, but they both lost out to Pierre Gasly on the first lap.
While Alonso eventually salvaged a point for 10th place Stroll could finish only 13th, having lost one spot to a pit speeding penalty.
Krack admitted that the race had been disappointing after a decent Saturday.
“I think we had a very strong qualifying,” he told to formu1a.uno. “I think the drivers did a fantastic job in very difficult conditions, in the wind, and we started more or less in the best possible position for where we are with the car.
“And actually, we hoped for a bit more today, but we got passed on the start by one competitor, and then also by strategy. We [Stroll] could not get Hulkenberg at the end.
“So disappointing. A lot of hard work for one point. We take it, but we have to urgently improve the car performance.
“For the drivers, it’s really tough, if you move backwards from a hard-earned start position. The car is not good enough.”
While a point in a race where all the cars finished was not a disaster Krack insisted that the team has to do better.
“Normally we prefer to look to the front than the cars behind,” he said. “We thought after qualifying maybe we misjudged a bit the situation, or maybe the drivers did really an outstanding job yesterday.
“Which probably is the case, because we thought we had a bit more pace. And today we were reminded that we hadn’t.”
Alonso himself suggested that 10th place actually flattered the car at Zandvoort.
“I think probably even one point is a little bit too much for the pace we have,” said the Spaniard. “But we did a good qualifying yesterday, and starting P7 obviously that gave us the possibility to score this point.
“And we need to get better. There are a couple of races already that we are struggling to keep up with some of the midfield teams, and we need to understand why, and we need to be better.”
Alonso acknowledged that the car does at least have good one lap pace.
“I think qualifyings are probably our strength this year,” he said. “We’ve been very fast in qualifying, and again, in this kind of circuit, it’s difficult to overtake.
“It’s a better to put two cars in Q3, it’s normally a good sign. And yesterday, we were probably a little bit better than what we should be. And today is reality.
“And we need to get better. We need to understand the car better. We need to bring some new parts for the next races and try to be as we started the year.
“We were not fighting with the top four teams, but we were a couple of tenths clear of the midfield, and we were in that middle position. And we want to be back by Abu Dhabi.”
