Aston Martin is currently enjoying its best moment of the Formula 1 season. The team led by Fernando Alonso secured a ninth place at Zandvoort, the best result of the year, and the upgrades are starting to pay off. But Mike Krack, the acting team principal, warns that there will be races ahead where it won’t be as straightforward for Aston Martin.
The Honda upgrades did not work in Zandvoort as well as expected, and that has left Aston Martin in a fairly vulnerable position on the straights. This is bad news if the next circuit on the calendar is Monza. In fact, it is likely that Aston Martin will take advantage of it to swap components of the power unit.
Fernando Alonso will have no options on Monza’s straights
Zandvoort was Aston Martin’s best weekend of the season so far, but it left a bittersweet aftertaste. The Honda engine did not perform as well as hoped, leaving Alonso and Lance Stroll exposed on the straights. At Zandvoort the straight sections are short, but on other circuits they will be decisive.
Mike Krack, the on-track operations director for Aston Martin who also acts as team principal when Adrian Newey is not traveling, spoke about the situation: “Durable races are ahead. Our results will depend on how long the straights are at each circuit. Little by little we will get to know this package,” explained the Luxembourger.
The next race is Monza, which takes place this weekend. The circuit with the most straightaways on the calendar, the so-called ‘Temple of Speed’, where Honda will have to endure. In fact, it wouldn’t be surprising if Aston Martin took the opportunity to change power-unit components and incur a grid penalty, knowing there are no other options there.
Mike Krack thinks that “with the engine we have to wait longer, it hasn’t delivered the result we expected yet and we don’t have the handling we had already improved with the first power unit. We are back to square one,” but he remains optimistic about the aerodynamic improvements, which “start to show their quality when the car’s tires wear down. That is where we stand out.”
The good news for Alonso is that after Monza comes Madrid, a twisty circuit with no long straights and, moreover, in front of the home crowd, which could be another ideal setting for him to shine. After Madrid, there will be Baku, with a huge straight but also a twisty section, and Singapore, which perhaps is the best circuit remaining this year for Aston Martin.
The key will be that Honda resolves the handling issues of its engine and frees up the power that they still cannot use.
Images | Formula 1, Aston Martin
