Fernando Alonso has outlined when Aston Martin can expect more performance, following a weekend at the Canadian Grand Prix in which the Spaniard felt that the team experienced better pace than at previous rounds.
After a difficult start to the season for the squad, the AMR26 looked to have improved in terms of reliability at Round 4 in Miami, with both Alonso and team mate Lance Stroll seeing the chequered flag for the first time.
Alonso went on to enjoy a good opening few laps on Sunday in Montreal, rising up from P19 on the grid and even running within the top 10 at one stage before dropping back. The two-time World Champion went on to retire on Lap 23 due to a seat issue in his car.
Reflecting back on the weekend, Alonso noted several positives but acknowledged that further performance will have to wait until the outfit run updates a little later in the campaign.
“We had a good start and we were fighting into the top 10 positions,” said Alonso. “We made the right call starting on the soft tyres, with a few others opting for intermediates and then having to pit early.
“Unfortunately, we had an issue with the seat in the race, so we decided to retire the car.
“We seemed to be faster here than we were in Miami with the same package. We need to wait for performance to come with our upgrades around the summer break, but we will look to keep optimising this package until then.”
Speaking in the media pen following his retirement from the race, Alonso also shared an insight into why he has some optimism going into the Monaco, which will kick off the European leg of the season on June 5-7.
“Monaco is next – a very different circuit, very slow,” he conceded. “The engine will be a little bit less important there, so maybe extra hope for Monaco.”
On the other side of the Aston Martin garage, Stroll ended his home event in P15 and conceded that there was still “a lot of work to do” before the performance gets to the required level.
“It’s been a difficult weekend in Montreal,” the Canadian explained. “We couldn’t get the temperatures we needed into the tyres and we were struggling for grip throughout the race.
“We didn’t have the pace we needed on the straights either. The car performance isn’t where we need it to be and there’s still a lot of work to do to get us there.”
