Aston Martin blamed Fernando Alonso when he first left the 2023 F1 World Cup. The Spanish driver could have finished sixth in the United States Grand Prix, if not for the fact that he had to leave. Everything indicated that he would achieve a memorable ride, but a problem with his flat-bottom forced him to leave the race with less than ten laps remaining.
Its floor was slightly damaged, but at first, it was thought to be a possible problem with the rear suspension. However, Aston Martin immediately removed any blame and placed it on Alonso, who after almost 50 laps of driving at the limit resulted in damage to the flat bottom of his car.
The man in charge of putting the spotlight on Alonso is Aston Martin’s chief engineer, Mike Crackwho taught which part of AMR23 that his best driver was damaged to be removed from the blame: «It’s not a problem with the suspension of Fernando’s car, it’s the flat bottom, on the right side, a little on the right side is missing, maybe because it’s raised on a piano, because it has a little touch, I don’t know.
Mike Krack desvela cuál es el problema que provocó el abandono de Fernando Alonso 💥#USADAZNF1 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/D31LlMD2xN
— DAZN España (@DAZN_ES) October 22, 2023
« Good rhythm, although we started from pit lane because we decided to change cars after Friday and Saturday, where we were not good. The pace was very encouraging throughout the race and on all the tires, so we can be satisfied with that,” added the Luxembourger, who saw how one of his drivers, Lance finished with a good run and ended up seventh after disqualifications of Lewis Hamilton y Charles Leclerc.
Aston Martin does not deny the evidence
However, the team manager acknowledged his team’s failure in Friday’s qualifying and Saturday’s sprint, a reliability problem they will seek to alleviate in Mexico. « But I agree that on Saturday and Friday, we need to improve if we want to fight with the men at the front, we need to be reliable and have good sessions. In the sprint weekends, if you lose the only session where you can test the improvements, you start with a renewed foot and from there, you have to come back,” he continued.
“If you start seventh or eighth now instead of far, maybe you can finish higher than we did today. There are positive elements, but we have to analyze what we can do better. Now it’s just the lap times and the results, we don’t think it’s bad, but we have to look at the details to get the best out of the car for Mexico, leaving nothing behind,” Krack concluded.
Walking changes course
The main surprise of Aston Martin in the eighteenth weekend of F1 was the result of Stroll, which they continue to protect from the British garage. The same does not happen to Alonso, whose car has been exposed to fewer repairs and, therefore, is worth a lower economic value than his partner. However, Krack took no prisoners and blamed the Asturian for his initial departure from the English team.
