by When 42-year-old Fernando Alonso almost bounced onto the scene, with an irreversible grin plastered on his face, it was a fun time to open the 2023 Formula One season. He and his Aston Martin team had pulled off a stunning coup at the season opener in Bahrain, Alonso was on the podium and Aston had a likely seat at the top of the F1 table.
Having finished seventh in 2022, weak at the back of the field, Aston Martin’s form on the Sakhir circuit has been telling. Alonso was third but the two dominant Red Bulls but beat Mercedes and Ferrari comfortably. It wasn’t a flash in the pan. When Ferrari and Mercedes had faded away, Aston had gained ground. Alonso took six podiums from the opening eight races.
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It was almost an F1 fairytale but it didn’t have a single happy ending. As the season progressed both Mercedes and Ferrari caught and ran with them and then with a late season surge by McLaren too. Unable to match the rate of development of the two big teams, they faced infrastructural challenges as well as unexpected technical difficulties and finished in fifth place.
It might be seen as a despicable end to what opened with such enthusiasm but Alonso and the team believe it was an exciting step forward for 2024, which starts in Bahrain on March 2, the first race of a huge season. 24 meetings. Aston Martin’s hopes are high and the rear is still one of the leading contenders at the start.
Alonso hailed 2023 as a success despite the final condition but had no doubt that there is hard work to be done. “I only see positives,” he said last season. “It was unimaginable 12 months ago, at this point, to think about the campaign we did.
“Now Aston Martin has a difficult period, the next two or three years, to find that extra piece, to create something that nobody has in that moment, to be creative, to be innovative.”
The principal of the team, Mike Krack, expressed his opinion. “We think about the next step that’s needed to take the next step,” he said. “The first steps are always easy but they get harder.”
Krack is a calm, measured operator. He is not given to hyperbole but shows a quiet confidence in the team’s future. The team may have been, to some extent, unsightly to deceive last season but their ambition is real as well as their growing ability to fulfill it, backed by billionaire owner Lawrence Stroll.
“Lawrence is very ambitious and very passionate about what we do,” explained Krack. “You can only make the investments he made when you are passionate. He wants to take the team forward and will do whatever it takes to achieve it.”
It is these investments that Aston hopes will make a real difference in the near future. Silverstone has a completely new factory center and a new wind tunnel facility has been set up at Stroll. The factory opened last year but will reach full operating capacity this season when the wind tunnel also comes online. They already have an agreement with Honda who will be the team’s works engine supplier in 2026.
Stroll also provided the bulk to sign Alonso and to see the highly experienced Dan Fallows as technical director from Red Bull, amid extensive personnel expansion. These are all part of the ethos of the team which Krack described as “people, tools and process”. The first two are in full swing, the second must come with experience and intense competition.
The team owner has a reputation for being ruthless, which can be detrimental in a sport where team harmony is essential but Krack insists his input is positive.
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“You need a certain level [of ruthlessness],” he said. “But I haven’t seen much, you need someone who’s challenging what you’re doing and not everyone is in a comfort zone all the time because that’s not how you encourage change and go ahead.”
Krack also emphasizes the team’s ability to make quick decisions and be nimble, unencumbered by the bureaucratic weight of a major car manufacturer. It was well shown in 2022 when their car was very weak from the outside. Within two races they had accepted their failures and focused on a completely new model for the following year. The result was the grand opening until 2023.
They are also learning on the job and can only hope for improvement in that department. As last season progressed they found that as the car developed, it was performing more in a narrow window. Experiments with new floor specifications to address it only made their efforts more complicated as they slid backwards. But the time was not wasted. As performance director Tom McCullough noted, it gave them a better understanding of the car but crucially details to apply to this year’s model.
Even as fourth place in the championship fell away, the team was looking so far this year, experimenting with new aerodynamic packages to better express the development direction of the new car. These are the strong, determined actions of a team with a solid plan in place, a strategy rather than reactive implementation. Alonso may have reason to be victorious again in February with a team as lean and hungry as the double world champion himself.
