F1 | Aston confidence: “AMR24 more balanced, hoped for steps achieved”

Aston Martin's 2024 began under the sign of continuity, especially in terms of design, with an AMR24 that was born from the concepts of last season's single-seater, albeit taken to the extreme in some of its aspects.

While many rivals have chosen to make major changes to the car's philosophy, Aston has focused on an evolution of the AMR23, with the hope that it could climb back towards the higher reaches of the table after the decline in the second half of last season.

At the end of the three days of testing in Bahrain, the management of the Silverstone team said they were very satisfied with the work carried out, underlining that they had achieved the development objectives they had set themselves with the launch version of the new single-seater.

“When we started this season trying to take a step forward over the winter, we wanted to make sure we got an improvement. Even though it's an evolution of last year's car, we wanted it to be a strong improvement and a strong evolution And we've seen this breakthrough, we've seen this benefit. So we're very pleased,” Fallows said.

“I think the most important thing for us is the direction to take. Last year we were not 100% satisfied with the results obtained in the development of the season. We wanted to make sure that we could compete at the highest level also in terms of the season. I believe that Above all, we wanted to make sure we took a step forward compared to last year, which we did. So I think we can definitely take this step,” added the team's technical director.

Alonso made it clear at the car's launch that the key areas to address were straight-line speed and downforce in high-speed corners. Clearly it is too early to give a definitive answer, also because indications have been seen in the tests that leave the door open to multiple interpretations. For example, during the race simulation on the last day, Ferrari used more aggressive mappings, so much so that it recorded rather high top speeds. Aston Martin, on the contrary, during its long runs highlighted peaks similar to those of Mercedes and McLaren, which share the same Power Unit.

However, the topic of top speeds is not the only one the British team has focused on over the winter. After the updates introduced in the middle of last season, the car became rather difficult to drive, nervous, affecting the balance both on the flying lap and on the long distance.

During the three days of testing, Aston focused on this last aspect, completing several long stints. From the point of view of long runs, the British team ran with a high fuel load, especially on the second day, while on the third and final day it started to push more concretely, especially on the C1: Fernando Alonso's stints took advantage of the attention also from his opponents, including that of James Allison.

Stroll (second day)	Stroll (second day)	Alonso (third day)	Alonso (third day)	Alonso (third day)
5.13pm – C1	6.00pm – C1	5.25pm ​​- C3	5.57pm – C1	6.34pm – C1
38,155	39,959	37.61	36,925	36,777
38,229	37,532	37,567	37,301	36,853
37,931	37,767	38,022	37,616	37.18
38.056	37,736	37,863	37,528	37,203
37,928	38,008	37,634	37,494	37,718
38,042	37.99	37.86	37,398	37.08
38,006	38,596	37,783	37,425	37,054
38,456	37,978	37,721	37,898	37,166
38.017	37,838	37,845	37,298	37,074
38,064	37,998	37,445	37,139	36,831
38,919	37,741	37,651	37,196	36,975
38,208	37.81	37,503	37,447	37,332
38,333	37,828	37,587	36,964	37,362
39,188	37,974
39,739	38,416
38,419	37.92
38,141	37,806
38,203

“There are some things we focused on over the winter to make the car nice to drive and the balance good,” Fallows said when asked by Motorsport.com about these goals.

“And I think now we're reasonably happy with where we're at. We know that we always have things to improve, and that's why we go back into the wind tunnel and go back to the drawing board to do these things. So far, though, I think in three days of testing we achieved a lot, we did a lot of tests and we are quite satisfied with the result.”

Team principal Mike Krack agreed that the sessions in Bahrain went to plan, without a hitch. “It was a very, very good test for us. Three days, I think the only interruptions we had were the red flags. So I think we can be quite satisfied. The car was in very good condition when it arrived here, very reliable , with high-quality components,” Krack explained.

“So we were able to do all the work we had planned every day. Now it's about digging in, getting through the days to understand all the results we've achieved, and we can't wait to get on track for the first race.”

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR24

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

However, overall, the team has tried to keep a low profile, aware that it is not in a position to repeat such a competitive and “linear” start to the season as that of 2023, where in the first races it had stabilized with a certain consistency as second force.

“We have to look carefully at the data these days, do a complete analysis and in the next few days we will have a clearer picture. I think it was important for us to look at ourselves, we have a rather broad program and we cannot influence that in any way what others do. Now it's a matter of analyzing and trying to understand what others have done.”

“If you analyze the whole variables in terms of track conditions, the fuel loads, the engine modes, the tires (here we had all five tire specifications), I think you can cover a space of five seconds. Discern then who is ahead by how much, I think is very, very difficult.”