Alonso: Aussie GP weekend showed Aston ‘needs to improve’

Fernando Alonso says Aston Martin’s performance level during the Australian GP weekend showed that the Silverstone-based outfit needs to improve.

Aston Martin managed to salvage a double-points finish at Albert Park, but the achievement was not without its challenges.

On Saturday, Alonso concluded qualifying in P10, one spot behind Aston teammate Lance Stroll, which left both drivers with their work cut out for them on race day.

Th two-time F1 world champion was the only driver along with Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg to gamble on the hard tyre at the start of the race, a choice that didn’t work out to badly for Alonso who stabilized his position among the top six in the second half of the race.

Unfortunately, a close battle with George Russell in the closing stages of the event resulted in the Mercedes driver losing control of his car at Turn 6.

The stewards viewed the incident as a consequence of a bit of “dangerous driving” by Alonso who was subsequently handed a 20-second penalty that pushed him down to P8 in the race’s final standings.

• Read also: 'Disappointed' Alonso disagrees with Australian GP penalty

Beyond the sanction, which he deemed as unfair, Alonso noted Aston’s “difficult pace” over the course of the weekend and which he hopes will be addressed by his team.

“Yeah, it was obviously a very difficult weekend for us in terms of pace,” he confirmed.

“The race, we were lucky with the [Virtual] Safety Car at the beginning with Lewis [Hamilton], and then the pit stops were great as well, so thanks to the strategy and a little bit of luck obviously we maximised the points.

“But we cannot forget that the pace was difficult the whole weekend.”

Alonso was unsure whether Aston’s muted performance in Australia had been track dependent or not.

“I don’t know, we need to understand more. Last year also was a little bit down, Australia, comparing the other race, so we need to improve.”

On the other side of the Aston garage, Stroll was never too far behind his teammate on Sunday, the Canadian clocking in sixth overall after crossing the checkered flag sixth before befitting from Alonso’s demotion.

“It was a pretty lonely race,” Stroll commented afterwards. “But good to pick up some points.”

While both Aston Martin drivers considered that the team had achieved the maximum it could in Melbourne, team principal Mike Krack praised his drivers for their efforts.

“A strong race in Albert Park today and we have scored 12 championship points,” said Krack. “Full credit to both drivers, who converted our grid positions into points, making use of two very different tyre strategies.

“Lance has driven well all weekend and carried that form through to the chequered flag. Fernando's race benefitted from the Virtual Safety Car – it was surprising to see him drop to P8 with the post-race penalty, but we have to accept the decision.

“This will not distract from a positive day. The calls from the pit wall were spot on and operationally the whole team has been excellent.”

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