Fernando Alonso downplayed the importance of Aston Martin’s aerodynamic upgrade package for the 2024 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix and suggested that the new parts won’t be a “game-changer” for any team.
Alonso: “I don’t think expectations can be too high”
The Spaniard suggested that at this point in the season, it would be difficult for any team to find significant performance gains with the latest updates. Aston’s Austin package includes a revised floor and is seen in part as a preview of the direction the team is taking for 2025.
“I don’t think expectations can be too high,” he said. “We have some new parts, but I don’t think they will change the overall picture. I think at this part of the championship, the updates are quite small. I think everyone is also in line with what the 2025 car is showing in the wind tunnel. So, it’s more of an introduction halfway through testing, halfway through performance. For us, it’s important to maintain the good understanding of the car that I think we started to get after Budapest, and that is probably the main goal for this weekend, to try to have a good correlation and see that all the new parts are doing what we expect from them. In terms of performance and qualifying positions, I don’t think it will change the game for anyone.”
Why gains over rivals will only be marginal
When asked by the media how important it would be to start off well, he said: “It will be important. Sprint weekends are obviously a bit more challenging because you can’t really optimize things, and especially when you bring new parts to the car or something like that, then you only have one chance in FP1. But yes, starting with the right feeling and the right confidence in the car will be important. That’s why the preparation and today’s meetings are a bit more delicate compared to any other weekend, trying to get everything right.” – the former Ferrari driver pointed out.
Fernando Alonso added: “After Budapest, we understood some of the directions we had taken in the past and why they weren’t properly correlating on track, and that package was a good indication of what we wanted to achieve, and this is just a continuation of that. So, I think we are reasonably optimistic that the correlation will be good and that on Friday we will see what we want to see. But in terms of performance, as I said, when you are at this point in the championship, all the gains are very marginal. All the other teams are also bringing new parts. So, even if you bring a tenth, half a tenth, the others are also bringing half a tenth, a tenth, and you stay in the same position. So, I think that will be the case this weekend.”
The importance of FP1 in a Sprint weekend
Fernando Alonso agreed that there’s an opportunity for Aston Martin to benefit from doing things right in FP1, while other teams might struggle. “For sure, I think more than the specifics of the updates, it will be important to get things right from the start. Because if you bring a performance package of a tenth and you make a mistake, maybe you lose two tenths compared to the previous race. And if you bring half a tenth and maximize all of that half-tenth, maybe it becomes a tenth when you put it on track. So, the difference can be quite big if you do things right or wrong. And we only have one session. So, it’s one of those FP1s where you want everything to be clean.” – he added.
The Spaniard recalled the 2023 Austin weekend: “Last year, remember, we were out in Q1 because we had a very messy FP1 with brake issues. We had a brake fire. Lance did one installation lap in the whole FP1, I did eight laps, and that compromised the entire weekend. So that’s a very important aspect of this year’s free practice.” – the Aston Martin driver concluded.
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