The start of the season ushered in another wave of dominance from Red Bull and Max Verstappen. However, the closest challengers were neither Ferrari nor Mercedes. Instead, it was the green-coloured Aston Martin that proved to be the closest to the Bulls in race pace. Lead driver Fernando Alonso has asserted that they can get P2 in the Constructor Championships.
A Rapid Start to the Season
The Silverstone-based team found itself at the front of the field a few years ahead of schedule. It was clear that both Mercedes and Ferrari had dropped the ball. Meanwhile, Aston Martin had made huge progress. Fernando Alonso found himself on the podium in the first race of the season itself. He scored 5 podiums in the first 6 rounds, even briefly contending for a win in Monaco. In Baku where he didn’t finish on the podium, he finished 4th, just 8 tenths off of Charles Leclerc.
Fernando Alonso was suddenly cheerful again. He even became a ‘life coach’ for Lance Stroll, in the words of Max Verstappen. He encouraged his race-craft, complimented his moves during a race, and even suggested good brake balances. Having finished 7th last year, Aston Martin had more development time than the other top teams. This meant that there was a lot of potential for them, especially during the second half of the season.
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The Hype Train slows down
Alonso had his first bad weekend at the Spanish GP, ironically his home race. He made a mistake in qualifying, and started and finished the race behind his teammate. However, the general lack of pace was quickly written off as a blip when he achieved another podium in Canada. However, since then, the upgrades they brought seem to have taken them backward. Mercedes, through sheer consistency, have overtaken them in the constructors, and McLaren and Ferrari have made rapid gains in the proceeding Grand Prix weekends.
The team admitted that their upgrades were a step backward, and felt frustrated on having wasted their massive advantage. Alonso even blamed the new Pirelli tyres for this lack of performance. However, Mike Krack was quick to dismiss that particular school of thought.
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A New Ray of Hope
The Belgian GP was looking like another frustrating weekend for the Spaniard. He got knocked out in SQ2 without setting a time and then made a rare mistake in the Sprint. However, Sunday proved to be much better as he finished 5th after a brilliant race. Alonso claimed the car felt “more normal” at Spa.
After the Canadian GP, Alonso had simply said “Yes” on being asked if he could take P2 in the driver’s standings. After the Belgian GP, he is just 1 point ahead of Lewis Hamilton. Can the Spaniard get another run of strong results? Can he keep Lewis Hamilton behind? Can Aston Martin keep themselves ahead of the volatile Ferrari and the resurgent McLaren? We will find all these answers in the second half of the season.
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