Fernando Alonso says F1 Italian GP was better than expected after missing on points by just a small margin, but insists on needing updates.
The expectation was for Aston Martin to have a difficult outing in F1 Italian GP, but it was the opposite. Even though they didn’t score points, Alonso was pleased to have finished closer to the Top 10 or in fact, close to ninth place in the order.
He felt the execution of the race was on point but tyre degradation is what cost them eventually. “The race was much, much better than expected,” said Alonso to media. “I think the execution of the race was really good for us. We got lucky with the start, a very good start, we overtook Nico, and then we were 10th, and close to Alex.
“So we kept the pace, surprisingly, with the Williams, so happy with that. And then we undercut him. We were running ninth for the majority of the race. And then we opted for two stops, we could not make it on one with our tyre degradation. We tried to catch at the end. And eight-tenths from Albon, one-tenth from Magnussen.
“So P11, only one second away of P9, which is very painful to lose the points, because I think we deserved it in a way, with a well-executed race. But the car is what it is at the moment, and we need to get better. We anticipated that the race was two stops for us. We are quite hungry on tyres normally, our car, and we don’t have downforce on corners, so we rely completely on the mechanical grip from the tyres.
“So we stress the tyre normally more than the others. That’s our problem on Sundays. So here, because it was between one and two, we knew that for the Aston it was two,” summed up Alonso, who stressed that Aston Martin needs updates to get better. He states that he and Lance Stroll is doing as much every weekend but that’s all they can do.
“Nothing we can do,” continued Alonso. “I mean, we are in our team’s hands. And I think Lance and myself, we’re trying to do the best we can every weekend. One inspired weekend like this, one from my side – I know it’s going to be completely anonymous, Monza 2024 from Alonso.
“But I think this year we’ve been Lance and myself very close, two or three seconds away at the end of the race. He’s always in front of behind. And today was, it was one of those weekends that I was a little bit better, and I was happy with the car, and pushing to the level that maybe was beyond 100%, and that was P11. So yeah, disappointed on that.
“Until we have an upgrade on the car, this is what it is, and this is not good enough. Not good enough in Monza, not good in Zandvoort, in Spa, in Hungary. So I don’t think there’s going to be a big change in Baku, Singapore or Austin, unless we bring new parts. That’s the plan.
“The team is aware of the situation, the team is working flat out. We keep united, we keep pushing. Dutch GP was one point, Monza, we were close to two points, and that will be our battle,” summed up Alonso.
Here’s Fernando Alonso getting the Aston Martin Valkyrie
Here’s Pierre Gasly, Fernando Alonso siding with Kevin Magnussen
Here’s how F1 Italian GP panned out
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