Aston Martin drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll — Photo: © LAT Images

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Aston Martin to enforce 'new rule' after huge F1 mistake

Aston Martin have learned lessons after poor US Grand Prix weekend

Cal Gaunt

Thursday 26 October 2023 15:57

Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack has implemented a new rule following an incident at the United States Grand Prix which saw both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll start the race from the pit lane.

The team decided to make a setup change under parc ferme conditions, which are the tightly regulated F1 rules that allow limited car alterations.

Alonso's car was reverted to the same specification as in the Qatar Grand Prix, while Stroll retained the new car with an updated floor.

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In the race, Stroll finished in ninth, but he moved up to seventh after the disqualification of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. Two-time world champion Alonso was in contention for points but had to retire six laps from the finish due to floor damage.

Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll were forced to start the United States Grand Prix from the pitlane

Lance Stroll managed to recover to P9, which became P7 after Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were disqualified

Mike Krack says lessons have been learned from Aston Martin's experience in Austin

Krack: It won't happen again

"You have to accept that after three days of really hard work, there is a couple of smiling faces in the garage and this is also well deserved," Krack told the media post-race.

"But you have also to see what the missed opportunity might have been, and this is the reality."

Aston Martin's issues appeared to arise from insufficient time to optimise their new car setup, which was partly due to the US Grand Prix being a designated Sprint weekend.

Our pre-race view today.

Our duo of AMR23s will be starting from the pitlane, as the team made changes this morning that will help us to optimise the new package. #USGP pic.twitter.com/atZpp5iDf5
— Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team (@AstonMartinF1) October 22, 2023

As a result, Krack confirmed that the team will avoid introducing significant car updates during weekends with Sprint races in the future.

"The fact is that on Friday we should have done our homework. We didn't do it and we had the consequences all over the weekend," he said.

"Now, there is always the rule: don't bring the upgrades to the Sprint weekend. Nevertheless, when you take the decision to do it you know what the risks are, then you cannot complain when it happens. But it's another lesson learnt. "