Fernando Alonso says Aston Martin's current position in F1 is like a football team gaining access to the "Champion's League", and it's a challenge the Silverstone-based outfit must embrace insists the Spaniard.
Aston Martin has been something of a revelation this season in F1 thanks to the team's spectacular progress year-over-year.
Aston hit the ground running in Bahrain and upheld its momentum thereafter with Fernando Alonso delivering five podiums in the first six races of the year and another runner-up spot in Montreal.
However, the team's performance abated after Canada, with the two-time world champion failing to finish higher than fifth in the last four rounds while Aston also lost its second-place position in F1's Constructors' standings to Mercedes.
But Alonso is confident that his team can recapture its momentum in the back half of the season.
"It was unexpected, in a way, how competitive the team was from the first race," Alonso said. "We found ourselves in a very strong position, so we maximised every opportunity in the first few races.
"In the last few events, we were maybe not as competitive as the first part of the year, but we still scored points in every single weekend. Now in the second part of the year, I think we want to go back to a more competitive position.
"I think everything is so tight now behind Red Bull with Mercedes, Ferrari, Aston Martin, McLaren – so we want to be in that fight until Abu Dhabi. And that’s the aim."
©AstonMartin
While the progress displayed by Aston at the outset of its campaign showcased the qualities of its AMR23 design, Alonso insists the team's great results were also rooted in its near flawless execution on race weekends, not to mention its car's strong reliability.
"I think it was a surprise for us that the car was fast, but I think the team was outstanding over the winter, understanding what the problems were last year," he explained.
"I think reliability, strategy – everything – we did things really good in most of the races to get those results.
"It’s not only the pace of the car, you need to master everything in the weekend from free practice one until Sunday."
As Aston now finds itself racing among F1's front-runners, Alonso suggested that the team's current status, and the challenges it faces, equate to playing in football's prestigious Champion's League.
"I think we are like playing in [the] Champions League at the moment and we are finding ourselves with the very top teams, trying to develop as well as off track.
"This is going to be the biggest challenge for Aston Martin now."
©AstonMartin
Team Silverstone has introduced several new elements on its car for this weekend's Dutch Grand Prix, and Alonso is hopeful that the upgrades will help boost its car's performance in the second part of the season but will also benefit its 2024 contender.
"To get a clear direction, not only for this year but also for next year, in terms of direction on the car," he said when asked about his expectations regarding the AMR23's latest updates.
"I think in Canada we brought some new parts, as well as Silverstone, and now these new aerodynamic parts that we bring here, hopefully are performing as we expect."
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