HALF TERM REPORT: Aston Martin – After a low-key start, can Aston Martin get themselves back in the mix?

Aston Martin sprung a surprise in 2023 when they emerged as Red Bull’s nearest challengers and racked up plenty of podiums via new signing Fernando Alonso. But it’s not been such a fruitful start to the current campaign, with the outfit often fifth-best in terms of performance and yet to record a rostrum visit. As they ponder how to rejoin the fight at the front, here’s a look at their year so far…

• Read all the 2024 half term reports here

Best finish

Fernando Alonso – 5th in Saudi Arabia

As touched on above, Aston Martin had scored seven podium finishes and sat fourth in the constructors’ standings on 217 points after 14 races in 2023, which compares to zero podiums and fifth in the constructors’ standings on 73 points so far in 2024.

Quite simply, the Silverstone outfit have been left behind by reigning world champions Red Bull, the much-improved McLaren, the inconsistent but at times rapid Ferrari and the largely recovered Mercedes, leaving them with plenty of work to do.

One of Aston Martin’s more competitive weekends came in Saudi Arabia, where Alonso hustled his car to a fine fourth on the grid, before following home Red Bull pair Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri for P5 in the race.

Qualifying head-to-head

Alonso 9 – Stroll 5

One positive for Aston Martin, in the early part of the campaign at least, was their qualifying pace relative to the teams around them, with Alonso managing to secure top-six grid slots in four of the opening five rounds – before rivals bolted on more effective updates and edged ahead.

Stroll has not quite managed to extract the same level of single-lap performance, with the Canadian’s best of eighth comparing to his team mate’s best of third, leading to the intra-team score above that sits in Alonso’s favour at the halfway stage.

READ MORE: Alonso hails points in Belgium as ‘a bit of a win’ as Aston Martin aim to ‘come back stronger’ in second half of the season

Race head-to-head

Alonso 9 – Stroll 5

While Aston Martin are fighting for different rewards on race days this season, Alonso has lost none of his consistency, scoring points in the opening six Grands Prix and making the top-10 positions in nine out of 14 attempts.

Stroll, meanwhile, has scored on six occasions, with a personal best finish of P6 at the Australian Grand Prix, which explains why he is also behind in the race day head-to-head, as well as the 25-point gap between the pair in the drivers’ standings.

Best moment

Given how quickly the season has moved on, it's easy to forget that Alonso started a Grand Prix from third on the grid earlier this year, with the two-time world champion enjoying arguably his most competitive weekend so far around the Shanghai International Circuit.

After qualifying P3 for the Sprint and challenging for a top-three finish until colliding with Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari, Alonso secured another second-row grid slot for the Grand Prix itself, bringing a rare high point for Aston Martin across the 14 rounds up to this point.

READ MORE: Former Mercedes Power Unit chief Andy Cowell joins Aston Martin as new CEO

That aside, there was the morale-boosting double points finish for the outfit at the Canadian Grand Prix, where Alonso came home sixth and Stroll seventh – their best combined result of the year – in a dramatic, rain-hit encounter.

Worst moment

You could argue that one of Aston Martin’s worst moments followed in the China race when they put Alonso on soft tyres rather than hards during a second Safety Car period, which forced him to make another stop compared to his rivals and blew a golden chance to shine.

But there were also particularly challenging back-to-back weekends in Spain and Austria, where Aston struggled to get on top of upgrades and lacked the pace to even challenge for points, prompting plenty of head-scratching back at the squad’s all-new HQ.

Going forward

It says a lot that Alonso described his minor points finish at the Belgian Grand Prix as “a bit of a win” for Aston Martin, with Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes still “out of reach” at this point.

So, what’s the realistic plan of attack as the second half of the season approaches? For Alonso, the goal is clear: make it into Q3 and score points at every event, avoid any “bad weekends” that undo progress, and build on their ‘fifth-fastest team’ position.

READ MORE: ‘It’s a really exciting time’ – Aston Martin share update on new wind tunnel and preparations for Honda’s arrival

“We need to raise the level,” he stated at Spa. “Especially on the aero platform, I think there is a little bit more to find out. Everyone’s working flat-out on that, to bring upgrades to the car, and let’s see what we can do in the second half.

“We saw many examples with McLaren last year and even Mercedes this year, that they started in a similar level [to] us and now they are winning races, so a magic solution, a magic upgrade, it can bring you three or four-tenths. It’s what we need and we will not stop until we get there.”