Fernando Alonso of the Aston Martin F1 Team AMR24 is not anticipating a repeat of last season’s podium finish at the Bahrain Grand Prix. He acknowledges that the team was in a stronger position 12 months ago. Alonso took advantage of Aston Martin’s resurgence as a front-runner last year, securing third place in his debut race and achieving six podium finishes in the following eight races. However, despite the team’s optimism about the improved AMR24 car, Alonso believes that they are not as competitive compared to their rivals.
During the twilight FP2 session, Alonso finished third on the timesheets, just under three-tenths of a second behind Lewis Hamilton, who led a Mercedes 1-2. Alonso expressed satisfaction with the handling of the 2024 Aston Martin car. However, he acknowledged the challenge of assessing the team’s position relative to others at this early stage.
Alonso stated, “It felt okay. Obviously we don’t know what the others are doing. We just completed our programme. We know the tyres quite well from the test so we sacrificed a bit FP1 using the Mediums so we concentrated a bit more in the performance with two Softs. Now in FP2 we learn a little bit from the car. I think a few set-up changes that we are quite happy with the result so let’s see tomorrow when we put everything together in qualifying and same for everybody.”
While Alonso recognizes the need for Aston Martin to find more speed, he also emphasized that the Bahrain Grand Prix marks the beginning of a record 24-race calendar. He remains calm and positive, understanding that the team’s performance can change significantly depending on fuel loads and other factors. Alonso stated, “I think 12 months ago we were in a stronger position, I would say, here in Bahrain. But yeah, let’s see. I’m happy. I’m going into the first qualifier of the season positive. Thinking on a very long season, so we need to start with the right foot for sure, but it’s not only Bahrain. I think we need to look forward also for the next coming event.”
In the meantime, Lance Stroll, Alonso’s teammate, showed improvement from 14th place in FP1 to eighth place in the second practice session. Stroll is optimistic after making positive adjustments to his car. He stated, “Overall, it’s been a solid day here in Bahrain. I think we made a step in FP2, the car felt good with the set-up changes we made. I haven’t looked fully into the long run pace yet but the car felt pretty good, so that’s positive. Obviously, it’s still early days and we don’t know what others were doing with their fuel loads in the session. We’ll know a lot more after qualifying and the grand prix.”