The protest shows how serious Aston Martin is

(Motorsport-Total.com) — With its second successful post-Formula 1 rally in the 2023 season, Aston Martin has not only won world championship points again, but has also established itself as a political force in the field. Fernando Alonso thinks that is “good”.

Because while the team at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was able to prove that a time penalty had been wrongly imposed on Alonso, Aston Martin, with its protest in Austria, urged the race management to put the Grand Prix result to the test as a whole.

And Alonso attaches great importance to the fact that no one has directly tainted his racing team as Spielberg. “The protest was not directed against any opponent or against another team. We lodged a protest because no penalties were imposed,” explains the two-time Formula 1 world champion.

“I’m glad the team is pushing in all directions. We didn’t exploit any gray areas or anything like that. It was just common sense.”

On the other hand, he, his teammate Lance Stroll and “eight other drivers” did not violate any track limit rules in the race that would have been punishable by a time penalty. Or as Alonso said: “If you stay on track, you don’t get a penalty. It was that easy. It was possible.”

“In Austria, probably ten drivers tried to overtake the other ten drivers. In the end it cost them a few seconds, but that’s the way it works.”

Alonso needs answers for ups and downs

However, the corrected result did not put Alonso on the podium: the Aston Martin driver ended up 5th in the Grand Prix, thus remaining without a top 3 result for the third time after Baku and Barcelona.

“We would like to understand this fluctuation in the velocity of AMR23,” says Alonso. “Because the last races gave very different results for Mercedes, Ferrari and Aston Martin.”

In Spain, Mercedes was “the second fastest team” behind Red Bull, in Canada, Aston Martin once again established itself as the second force. “In Austria, that role fell to Ferrari,” says Alonso.

“But we don’t have any clear answers right now. I think it has to do with a specific circuit, but we’re still looking into that.”

Driving under control, but with the possibility of 2024

On the other hand, Aston Martin made more progress with the AMR23 steering, which Alonso had difficulty changing at the start of the season. But Alonso is not talking about “application” here either, but says: “This process is ongoing.”

“Lance and I are trying to be more comfortable with the car. We have to be on the same page here, what we want from power steering, front suspension, steering and things like that. Because it’s all within budget so you have to respect both parties.”

Technically, however, he is “quite satisfied” with his current starting position, says Alonso. “There may be slight adjustments to think about, but for the long term or for next year. But we’re in very good shape and we’ve made small improvements, so overall I’m happy.”