Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin are starting to see some progress with the AMR26, but they still have a long road ahead before they can be competitive.
The Miami Grand Prix gave them something to build on, with Alonso’s P15 finish standing as Aston Martin’s best race result of the season so far.
The result comes at a time when questions about Alonso’s future have started to circulate again. A P15 isn’t going to silence those entirely, but it does at least reflect a bit of improvement from earlier races this year.
He’s made it clear he wants to stick around until things improve and hopes to finish his career on a positive note rather than trailing at the back of the field.
Alonso is still backing Aston Martin despite knowing there is plenty of work left and that bigger changes won’t arrive straight away.
Fernando Alonso discusses when Aston Martin plan to roll out new upgrades
After the race, Fernando Alonso spoke to ESPN about the recent regulation changes and whether they’ve made any difference to the quality of racing.
He pointed out that Aston Martin hasn’t felt any real benefit from new upgrades yet, with significant changes not expected until the Spanish Grand Prix later in the season.
“It doesn’t affect us because we don’t have any new upgrades planned for Canada. I don’t think we’ll have any upgrades until Race 12.”
“In other words, the fewer practice sessions there are in the first part of the season, the better.”
Aston Martin banking on upgrades to change their season’s direction
Some in the paddock have raised concerns about whether giving Aston Martin and Honda more help could actually backfire, especially given Honda’s past success with Red Bull.
Honda didn’t always get it right at first. Their struggles with McLaren were well documented, but they eventually found their footing and played a key role in Red Bull’s success.
This time around, there’s hope that they can turn things around even faster and get Aston Martin back into the midfield battle sooner rather than later.
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