Fernando Alonso offered a rather disappointing assessment of Aston Martin’s status after the US Grand Prix, placing his team ninth in the F1 pecking order after a weekend that offered glimpses of competitiveness but few reasons for celebration.
The two-time world champion had qualified sixth for the sprint, but a first-corner incident brought the Spaniard’s efforts to an early conclusion, while he managed to snatch the final point in Sunday’s main event.
Although the weekend at the Circuit of the Americas included flashes of speed, Alonso believes the stats tell a downbeat story.
"It's a sprint weekend so there is a little bit of a mix and the people getting used to some things, rookies as well – they need to learn the track," Alonso said on Saturday.
"So, I don't know, in all our metrics we are the eighth fastest team and yesterday [Friday] we were 6th and 10th. So, happy in that regard but I don't think that this is a particularly good weekend for the Aston."
The Spaniard expanded on Aston Martin’s inconsistent performance, highlighting the gap between qualifying pace and race competitiveness.
"We were slow compared to the cars in front of us and we were holding the Racing Bull [of Liam Lawson] behind us," he said. "They were within one second of us the whole race, so that means they had more pace than us.
“Yep, we struggled a little bit more in the race than any other session on the weekend. We seem a little bit faster in qualifying and less competitive in the race. We need to improve that for the last five races."
Ninth in the Competitive Order?
Alonso even reconsidered his assessment after the race, accounting for other midfield teams’ performances.
"Probably we are ninth today," he said. "I think Alpine maybe is the one that is struggling more but after Alpine, I don't know.
“Haas is clearly in front of us, with Ollie's very strong race. Sauber for sure in front, Williams in another league. There are not many teams behind us at the moment. To be tenth and score one point is a good result but we need to get better for Mexico."
Krack Brings Perspective
Aston Martin’s chief trackside officer Mike Krack offered a more measured take, pointing out the variables that affect race outcomes.
"The analysis is something we need to look at in detail," he said. "Because some people run with soft tyres, some people run with hard tyres, some people run with medium tyres.
“I think we need to go through these numbers, see who has traffic, who has DRS and all these kinds of things, before you can really say where you are in the pace."
©Aston Martin
Krack emphasized the influence of circuit characteristics and strategy variation.
“There are races, there are circuits, where we are performing better, there are circuits where the car has strengths and weaknesses, like every other car.
“There are weekends, like in Budapest, where it is better suited and there are weekends, like in Baku, where it was not.
“I think that is the challenge over the season, to get the maximum out of it and score whenever you can and do as best as you can. The analysis will be done and then we will go over it."
With five races remaining, Alonso’s candid critique and Krack’s contextual insight set the stage for a crucial stretch of the season, as Aston Martin seeks consistency to bridge the gap in a crowded midfield.
The team knows it has flashes of pace, but translating them into race-day results remains the ultimate challenge.
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