Fernando Alonso lowering expectations ahead of Hungarian Grand Prix

Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso is not setting his sights too high in Budapest

It has not been the easiest of seasons for Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin. While the team was the darlings of the paddock early last season, the situation has changed since then. At the moment they find themselves mired in fifth place in the Formula 1 Constructors’ standings, well ahead of sixth-place Visa Cash App RB F1 Team, but well off the pace set by fourth-place Mercedes.

And according to Alonso, their situation might not improve this weekend in Budapest.

Speaking Thursday at the FIA Press Conference ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix, Alonso opened up about the team’s struggles. Specifically, the driver noted just how difficult it is for the team to get the AMR24 into the ideal operating window.

“Well, I think it’s quite difficult to have the car in the right window at the moment for us. We’re struggling to maximise the potential of the car. I think in Barcelona, we started the weekend on the wrong foot, and we could not recover from that bad FP1, let’s say,” said Alonso on Thursday. “In Austria, with the Sprint weekend, you only have one free practice. And yeah, again, we didn’t optimize the package. And in Silverstone, yeah, we had a little bit more normal weekend. It was a little bit cooler as well, which probably did help our performance. And yeah, let’s see here. It’s another hot track, maybe similar to Barcelona in terms of corner speeds and things. So it’s a challenge for us.”

Alonso then elaborated on the lack of confidence he has had in the car this season, as well as how some of the inconsistency with the AMR24 has led to “risky” decisions by him and the team.

“A few things, not only one. As I said before, I think the car is not easy to drive and it’s a little bit unpredictable at times,” began Alonso. “So this obviously removes confidence to the driver, when you are not able to push and to trust the car that will do the same in every corner, in every lap. So this, let’s say, inconsistency is something that is not great when you are behind the wheel, and I’m struggling more this year than previously. Yeah, and then obviously when margins are so tight and you are in a close battle for one or two points, sometimes you take more risky decisions.

“Sometimes you gamble on a strategy. Sometimes you risk more than what you should in the start or on a set-up choice that we went for. Instead of changing something minimal before qualifying, we change the whole car before qualifying because we know that with a current car in FP3, we will not be able to score more than one or two points, so you risk it more.

“So there are always consequences with things that you do when you are used to fight for higher positions and you find yourself just aiming for one or two points, sometimes you risk it all to have a top five or being out of the points is not a big loss. These kind of things we learn a lot during this season and probably has been our, or my, personal biggest difficulty.”

As far as what Alonso expects this weekend, as well as next weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, he is not setting his sights too high.

“Difficult to say. I think it depends a little bit track to track and it’s very close in the midfield. I would love to finish both races in the points and that will be a good sign that the new package is delivering what we expect,” described Alonso. “I think the top four teams are a little bit too far away from our reach at the moment. So yeah, I think we need to do smaller steps at the time and being in the points on both races that will be probably the target.”

Alonso and teammate Lance Stroll will get their first crack at the circuit in Budapest later today with a pair of practice sessions ahead of this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix.