Fernando Alonso lauds McLaren & Mercedes’ challenge to Red Bull’s F1 dominance

Fernando Alonso feels that the progress made by both McLaren and Mercedes in performance in 2023 and 2024 is motivating for Aston Martin. Speaking to onsite media ahead of the 2024 Belgian GP, the Spanish driver said that the turnaround in the performance of both teams was inspiring for the Silverstone team.

Starting at the bottom of the grid in 2023, McLaren managed to turn around their performance midway through the season and have carried on to be title contenders in 2024. Meanwhile, Mercedes, had a turn-around in their performance around the Canadian GP this year and have won two races since.

Aston Martin, on the other hand, started the 2023 season strong in second place in the constructors' championship before trailing off in the second half to finish fifth. Fernando Alonso secured eight podiums in 2023, but in 2024, the Silverstone squad are back in the midfield.

Alonso thinks Aston Martin should take heart from Mercedes' and McLaren's recent performance improvements. He believes that his team has the best facilities and tools to be able to put up good performances and reduce the gap to the frontrunners.

The 42-year-old feels that the recent upgrades in Budapest have helped them make significant progress. According to the two-time world champion, the team has an increased confidence on the track due to their improved understanding of their vehicle.

Asked if the evolution of Mercedes could be mirrored by Aston Martin, Fernando Alonso said:

“Both Mercedes this year and McLaren last year. Both of them proved that it's possible to recover a significant gap to the leaders. Mercedes was fighting with Haas for four races and now they won two Grands Prix. McLaren was out of Q1 for a few races at the beginning of last year and they were fighting for victory. So it is possible. It's up to us. It's up to the team to understand the upgrades, where are the key parts of the car to find performance, how to find that performance. We have the facilities. We will have the wind tunnel at the end of the year probably ready. So there are a couple of people to look at this.”

Asked if the team had a better understanding of the car and if the current upgrades instiled more confidence, Alonso said:

“Yeah, I think so. Definitely, yes. We are a little bit more calm after the Budapest upgrade in terms of what is coming for the future or what will come in the future, maybe the team has now a better understanding of what to put performance without or with the safety that it will add lap time. You know, it will make the car faster. So this was a key upgrade for us, I think, and it worked as expected. So it gives us more confidence for sure”

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Fernando Alonso is motivated for a better second half of the 2024 season

Fernando Alonso hopes to have a better second half of the 2024 season in terms of performance. He feels that going forward, Aston Martin needs to consistently qualify in the top 10 to be able to turn around their season. The two-time world champion believes that his squad has to advance past midfield to progress up the grid.

Speaking about his motivation going into the second half of the 2024 season, the Spanish said:

“Well, I mean, the motivation is just hoping for a good second part of the year, which it means to have a consistent car in the Q3 and the top 10. I think we've been a little bit up and down, unfortunately. Barcelona, we were not the fifth-fastest team. Austria. We were quite bad as well. We were the seventh or the eighth fastest team. I don't want to hopefully see that again."

“I want to be in the top part of the midfield, just behind the top four teams. And then slowly maybe close that gap to the top four teams. Maybe this year is gonna be difficult because there are not many upgrades for anybody coming, but we need to find the direction. We need to find the path for next year as well. And this second part of the year is gonna be important. So this is, I think, for me and for the whole team, the biggest motivation from now on,” he added.

Fernando Alonso has accumulated 45 points thus far, placing him ninth in the driver standings, a significant drop from his fourth-place finish in 2023. Aston Martin currently occupies the fifth position in the constructors' championship with a total of 69 points, trailing Mercedes in fourth by a substantial 172 points.

The Spanish champion secured a ninth-place qualifying position for the Belgian GP, while teammate Lance Stroll qualified in fifteenth.