Fernando Alonso, a member of the Aston Martin F1 Team, expressed his surprise at the pecking order after the first race of the 2024 Formula 1 season in Bahrain. Aston Martin, previously a strong contender against Red Bull, saw a decline in competitiveness as the development race progressed. This resulted in the team finishing fifth in the Constructors’ Championship and starting this season behind Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes, and McLaren. Alonso, who qualified sixth, was unable to maintain his position and dropped to ninth place during the race. Looking ahead to the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Alonso acknowledged that Aston Martin’s AMR24 is an improvement but not enough to surpass its rivals. He emphasized the need for improvement on Sundays and highlighted the team’s progress in the winter. Despite the different challenges of the Jeddah street circuit, Alonso expects Aston Martin to continue lagging behind its competitors and anticipates a fifth-place finish.
When asked if he expected a change in the order for the upcoming race, Alonso responded that he did not believe so. He compared it to last year’s race in Bahrain, stating that it would likely be similar. He mentioned that Red Bull and McLaren may perform well in high-speed corners, with McLaren potentially having an advantage over Bahrain. Alonso expressed surprise at Red Bull’s performance in Bahrain, as many had expected them and Ferrari to be ahead. He acknowledged that Red Bull and Ferrari were better than the other teams during the winter. In Bahrain, Red Bull finished first and second, while Ferrari came in third, which surprised Alonso.
Aston Martin made the decision to extend Alonso’s second stint in Bahrain after he fell behind the McLarens and Lewis Hamilton. However, Alonso denied that Aston Martin’s 2024 car excelled at preserving tire life, noting that the team was hoping for a Safety Car intervention. He admitted that their tire degradation was worse than the others but explained that they stretched their stints in the hopes of a strategic advantage. Unfortunately, their race had no one ahead or behind them, so they took a risk with their strategy, which ultimately did not yield any significant changes in their final result. Alonso mentioned that the tire degradation in Jeddah is expected to be different, with very low degradation. Therefore, there will be a clear optimal lap to make pit stops, and they plan to adhere to that more strictly.
While Red Bull was the only team to run two stints on the Soft compound in Bahrain, Alonso pointed out that Jeddah is known for being less demanding on tires. However, he emphasized that teams with higher downforce will still have an advantage. He explained that lower degradation is expected for everyone in Jeddah, but cars with more downforce will experience even less degradation because they slide less on the tires. Alonso concluded by stating that their focus is on improving the car and increasing grip to minimize tire wear.