Fernando Alonso makes Aston Martin plea for improved 2024 F1 performance

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Alonso makes Aston Martin plea for improved 2024 F1 performance

The two-time world champion knows what he wants in 2024

Matthew Hobkinson Lead Editor

F1 Editor & Journalist

Saturday 16 December 2023 09:57

Fernando Alonso has admitted that Aston Martin need to be more consistent in the 2024 Formula 1 season, as he addressed the car's weak points after his first year with the team.

After four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel announced his retirement from the sport at the end of 2022, there were few drivers who could fill the German's shoes.

Yet Aston Martin managed to find someone in the same leagues as Vettel, with Alonso making a shock move from Alpine to join the Silverstone-based outfit at the beginning of the year.

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Although the move raised some eyebrows, six podiums in his first eight races soon had people questioning where Alonso kept his crystal ball – most likely next to the fountain of youth the Spaniard has tucked away also.

Fernando Alonso (L) replaced the retiring Sebastian Vettel (R) at Aston Martin

Alonso finished the 2023 season with a total of eight podiums

And although there were some challenges as the season progressed, Alonso went on to secure a superb P4 finish in the drivers' championship after his first season in emerald green.

Alonso: Aston Martin should be better next year

Always striving for more, however, Alonso has now opened up on where Aston need to improve, if they are to continue to take their fight to the very front of the grid.

“I think we need to find some consistency," he said (via Autosport). "Maybe one of the weak points was the car has to operate in a very narrow window.

“It’s the same for everybody, but it seems that we’re struggling a little bit, and it will be nice if we can always perform at a stable level next year.

“Also, if we can improve the straight line speed – I think that was, in performance numbers, our weak point. Always a little bit too slow on the straights.

Alonso recorded two more podiums than his long-term F1 rival Lewis Hamilton (L) in 2023

“If we wanted to be as fast as the others, we have to drop too much the rear wing. Then we ended up slow in the corners as well. So, that was probably the loop that we could not go out [of] this season.”

“I think [it was] a consequence a little bit of the development of the car," he added.

“But, as I said, it’s the same for everybody when you try to extract extra on the performance of the car - you need to sacrifice some areas to gain in others. So, you start narrowing the window.

“But I think we have some ideas for next year as well and everything should be better."

Aston Martin Fernando Alonso Alpine Sebastian Vettel