F1 | Aston flies on the forehand, Alonso: “We knew we could do well”

The sixth place on the starting grid achieved by Fernando Alonso in qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix represents both a source of satisfaction and regret at Aston Martin. After a couple of really unconvincing weekends, such as those in Imola and Monaco, where the AMR24 had not been able to make the most of its strengths, such as its strength on the straight when the DRS opened.

After a few subdued weekends, a test of strength was needed or, at least, a sign that the Silverstone team was not undertaking the same path as last season, when instead of progressing keeping pace with its rivals, it fell back in the standings and was almost absorbed from the group. For this reason, the hope was that Montreal could be a more favorable track for the peculiarities of the AMR24.

The Canadian circuit is made up of strong braking points, acceleration zones, medium/low speed corners and long straights where efficiency qualities, especially with open DRS, and those of the Power Unit prevail. During this championship, the English car had demonstrated on several occasions that top speed in a straight line is one of its strong points and this was also the case in Montreal.

Although it is true that the slow corners do not represent the best quality of this car, at the same time the fact that they are not mechanical grip curves and the speed range is not particularly wide favored the search for the setup. Looking at the data, in fact, the 228 thousandths of a second at the finish line represent almost a regret for Alonso, according to whom there was the possibility of going beyond sixth place on the grid.

With such close gaps, so much so that Daniel Ricciardo was also able to get in with an overall fairly small gap from pole, the crucial aspect was putting all the various pieces of the puzzle together. The small drops of rain at the end but, above all, the increase in wind intensity made it even more complicated to hit the perfect window.

“It was a difficult qualifying for everyone, with the wind and rain drops. You always lose a bit of confidence and I don’t think anyone did a perfect lap. It was the same for me too. I didn’t put everything together in Q3 , so when you see that you’re only two tenths from pole position, it hurts a bit,” said the Spaniard.

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR24

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images

According to Alonso, most of the gap came in turn 2, where he suffered from oversteer which led him to lose not so much in the change of direction, as happened to Russell, but in the cornering and exiting. By losing the rear, in fact, the Aston Martin representative widened his trajectory: for this reason the gap accumulated is not only due to what was actually lost in turn two, but also in the extension phase towards chicane 3-4. “I lost a lot in turn 2. The car was so oversteering and I lost so much that I was thinking whether to stop the lap or continue.”

“I continued and finished in sixth place, so if two tenths gets you pole position, maybe it was all in one corner. I drove very aggressively to recover,” added Alonso. In reality, although it is true that part of the gap came precisely at that point, it is also true that there are other areas of the track where the AMR24 did not keep up with Russell’s Mercedes, such as at chicane 6-7. Furthermore, other drivers also made mistakes, so much so that everyone has something to complain about, also thanks to the increase in wind intensity which made it more difficult to manage the car.

However, there is a very interesting element, namely that of top speed. Aston has made straight-line strength a key element to its qualifying performance this year, especially with the DRS open, demonstrating improved effectiveness and the work carried out over the winter. On a track like Montreal this aspect paid off. Even in qualifying, Alonso managed to get close to the speeds reached by Russell, who however could count on the slipstream of a Williams: compared to other teams, the time lost on that straight was therefore much more limited.

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR24

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

“I think that after the first nine races we had a slightly more complete picture of the car, so we expected a slightly better weekend. Already [venerdì] we felt a little safer with the car. In the last two Grands Prix we dropped out of Q1 and therefore the race was practically over. But now, starting from the sixth and ninth position [per il compagno di squadra Lance Stroll] we have the chance to score points,” added Alonso.

However, in the rain this effectiveness of the DRS could be lost, given that the use of the mobile wing is not permitted on a wet track. The good top speeds could still represent an opportunity to fight with the opponents and defend themselves but, with a potentially difficult race to decipher, being able to start a few positions ahead could have put him in a more comfortable situation with which to look at the race.