Fernando Alonso, from the Aston Martin F1 Team AMR24, acknowledges that the team is fully aware of the balance issues plaguing their 2024 Formula 1 car. Despite initially showing promise as the closest competitor to Red Bull last season, Aston Martin has dropped to fifth place in the Constructors’ Championship. Although they have maintained their position this season, they are now facing pressure from both RB and Haas in recent races. However, their efforts to close the gap to the leading teams suffered a setback at Imola, when team boss Mike Krack admitted that the upgrades made their car difficult to drive.
Alonso had a disastrous weekend at the Italian circuit, crashing in FP3 and being eliminated in Q1, turning his race into a mere test. His teammate, Lance Stroll, revealed that the AMR24 has more limitations compared to its predecessor, affecting its overall competitiveness. Stroll mentioned issues such as oversteer on entry, understeer in corners, driving over the kerbs, and other aspects that still need to be improved. He also noted that the 2024 car has a more complex balance compared to the previous year’s model.
When asked if he shared the same assessment with the engineers, Alonso confirmed that he and Stroll have similar feelings about the car and provided similar feedback. They have been testing various tools and setup directions, including some done at Imola, to address the issues. However, they believe the team needs to continue working on the car’s balance. Despite adding downforce with the upgrades, they are unable to fully utilize it efficiently in terms of lap time due to the imperfect balance in corners.
“But I believe we understand that. We have some ideas that, you know, in the next phase of vehicles and improvements, we will try to address these types of issues.
“So, yeah, I mean, we are not ignorant to the unknown. We are aware of the situation.
“But at the same time, it is also the inherent nature of these cars that, as you increase the downforce, they become a bit more crucial and more challenging to operate.
“Yes, and that is something we need to resolve.”
Alonso admitted that testing advancements in the simulator is not comparable to a real experience on the track, as the former can mask potential obstacles.
“The simulator is a bit more, let’s say, forgiving you for many things that the track does not forgive,” he explained.
“And when you input the numbers, the theoretical numbers in the simulator, you simply get faster without many difficulties, you know, in terms of balance, something like that.
“So, the simulator is a fantastic tool for engineers, for drivers to learn the tracks and things like that.
“But for the final details of the setup or the final behavior on track, I believe the simulator is still not as accurate as the real car, so yes, we need to work on that on Friday, Saturday.”
Meanwhile, Stroll admitted that it presents a challenging task with the current ground effect vehicles to find a balance between optimal balance and increased downforce.
Asked if adding performance through downforce gains was part of the solution to refine the balance, Stroll replied: “It’s both. I mean, that’s Formula 1.
“That’s how development works. You try to make the car as balanced as possible and add as much downforce as you can. So, same thing here.”
© 2024
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