The 2024 Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix has been a sobering experience for Aston Martin, laying bare the struggles the team has faced this season.
Fernando Alonso missed out on moving past P15, ending up in the final position of Q2. Meanwhile, Lance Stroll didn’t fare much better, getting knocked out in Q1 and finishing in P17, just ahead of Logan Sargeant and the two Kick Sauber drivers. It’s clear Aston Martin has been grappling with performance issues since Imola, and their latest outing in Austria only confirms the trend.
To give some perspective, last year at the same track, both Aston Martin cars made it into Q3. Stroll finished P6 and Alonso secured P7. Fast forward to this season, Alonso starts in P15, while Stroll is in P17—marking one of the team’s poorest qualifying results in eleven races so far.
The numbers are telling. Aston Martin has lost over seven-tenths of a second on the same circuit compared to last year. While most teams have seen slower times at the Red Bull Ring, Aston Martin’s decline is particularly stark when put up against the rest of the field.
Where exactly has the AMR24 lost time compared to last year’s AMR23? A closer look at the best lap times at the Red Bull Ring for both years gives us some answers. Alonso’s Q2 lap this season pales in comparison to Stroll’s Q3 lap from last year. The first sector alone shows the AMR24 trailing by +0.117s from its predecessor.
The gap widens considerably in the subsequent sectors. In Sector 2, Alonso loses +0.393s over Stroll, which is quite significant over such a short segment of the lap. By the time we get to the final sector, the difference is +0.236s over just two corners. When all is said and done, the total delta between the best laps of 2023 and 2024 stands at +0.746s.
Speed-wise, there isn’t much difference between the top speeds of AMR23 and AMR24 in the first sector. However, the AMR23 manages better braking at the end of the finish line straight, improving corner entry and exit traction, which already gives it a slight edge. The real disparity comes in the medium and high-speed corners. Turns 5 and 6 highlight the AMR23’s superior aggressiveness and speed, where it pulls ahead by over three-tenths of a second.
Finally, the entry to Turn 9 and the exit of Turn 10 are critical. The AMR23 enters these corners with much more speed and exits them with better traction, resulting in another two-tenths of a second gained. Clearly, Aston Martin is far from where it aimed to be this season. The upgrade packages introduced since last year haven’t worked, leaving the team lagging behind its rivals in the development race.
While Alpine has shown improvement, moving from strength to strength, Aston Martin needs to step up quickly to regain its lost pace.
Without a doubt, Aston Martin has a lot of work ahead if they wish to turn their fortunes around this season.
