Alonso and Stroll call on Aston Martin to ‘understand’ recent struggles and ‘fight back’ over second half of season

While Aston Martin logged another double points finish in the Hungarian Grand Prix, drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll were left wanting more after crossing the line behind rivals Red Bull, McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari.

Aston Martin started the 2023 season in fine form, with Alonso making the podium at six of the first eight races, including P2 results behind championship leader Max Verstappen at the Monaco and Canada rounds.

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However, the last three events have seen the Silverstone team fall away from the front-running battle, taking fifth and ninth in Austria, seventh and 14th in Britain and ninth and 10th in Hungary over the weekend.

Asked if the latest double points finish was satisfying, Alonso said: “You always want more, for sure. We did the maximum, no mistakes today, tried to optimise everything…

“Ninth and 10th was the maximum, but obviously not the best in terms of results, behind McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull. We need to see how to improve into next week at Spa, another opportunity.”

Asked if he will be pushing the team for more upgrades as the campaign develops, he continued: “Yeah, more grip. From now on, different circuits [are] coming, hopefully better [suited] to our car.

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“At the moment we are struggling a little bit in the last few races, so [it will be] maximum focus, head down and try to understand why.”

Having followed Alonso home at the Hungaroring, and been lapped by race winner Verstappen, Stroll offered a similar assessment of Aston Martin’s current form.

“It’s been a tough weekend – we just haven’t been quick enough this weekend,” he stated. “We’ve got to find some speed in the car, because we’re just not as competitive as we want to be right now.

“McLaren, Mercedes, Ferrari, they’re quicker than us, and we have to fight our way back to being where we were at the beginning of the season. I believe we can come up with some ideas and bounce back.”

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With 11 rounds of the season down, Aston Martin remain third in the constructors’ standings on 184 points, 39 behind second-placed Mercedes and 17 ahead of fourth-placed Ferrari.