2024 Aston Martin | Aramco F1 Team

[diffuser]

dont they allow parc ferme changes for sprint weekends this year compared to last. or did i misinterpret something i read

It wouldn't be fermé if they did, It would be parc ouvert !

There will be 2 parc ferme. One after sprint shootout on Friday and one after quali on Saturday.

So, teams do get 2nd chance to make setup for actual f1 quali and race.

But think there is 3 hour gap between sprint and quali. Not sure when FIA will give cars back to teams post sprint checks and then depends on time available to prep car for quali and how much setup changes will be possible in that time.

Mechanics will be busy.

Forgot they were doing that.

[RedNEO]

The team share some photos of the works on building 2 and 3

https://www.astonmartinf1.com/en-GB/new ... take-shape

https://assets.astonmartinf1.com/public ... _28x16.jpg

https://assets.astonmartinf1.com/public ... _28x16.jpg

The new simulator and wind tunnel should be operative from september/october of this year, just in time for lift of the ban on 2026 windtunnel/CFD.

Looks good can’t wait for the next proper video they usually put out.

[SSJ4]

dont they allow parc ferme changes for sprint weekends this year compared to last. or did i misinterpret something i read

It wouldn't be fermé if they did, It would be parc ouvert !

There will be 2 parc ferme. One after sprint shootout on Friday and one after quali on Saturday.

So, teams do get 2nd chance to make setup for actual f1 quali and race.

But think there is 3 hour gap between sprint and quali. Not sure when FIA will give cars back to teams post sprint checks and then depends on time available to prep car for quali and how much setup changes will be possible in that time.

Mechanics will be busy.

Will be interesting to see if teams adopt a much more aggressive setup for sprint section of the weekend then revert back to a pre planned setup for rest of the weekend

[diffuser]

To me, I would think they would only change their setup if they notice a problem or defeintcy. You might see many teams change their planks between the sprint race and quali.

[wiktor977]

Lance is no threat to Alonso. Looking dominant all the way into retirement even if he never wins another race.

Really? Do you need to compare him to his teammate to think that way? It's how he drives that makes him look dominant not the driver on the other side of the garage.

[wiktor977]

I dont think it would be wise for Sainz's career to be teamed up against Alonso...

Yes, Sainz will be an asset to the team. Having 2 Spanish bulls in the team will be exciting

Alonso's role in AM may extend beyond being a driver. in a couple of year he may be promoted to become Team Principal.

Nah. I think that he couldn't care less about being in charge of a team. More likely he will race in Le Mans with Aston.

[Chuckjr]

Honestly as long as Fred can keep wiping the floor with his teammate, there’s no need to retire. He may well still be driving in 2028. If Alonso Martin can deliver a competitive car in 2026, and they still are clinging to Stroll as a team mate, I don’t see any reason why Fred would hang it up. Just keep going I say. Keep him in the cockpit till another driver can beat him. Don’t fix what isn’t broken.

[ali623]

The team are completely stuck where they are while Stroll occupies the second seat (unless Honda produce a Merc-2014 style engine in 2026, and they have 1+ second advantage on the field).

They aren't going to finish higher than 5th again in the WCC, purely because of Stroll and his lack of contribution. He's also not a proper benchmark for Alonso, who is still performing at a high level, but is now well into his 40's. Someone like Sainz, for example, would be a much better benchmark of where Fernando's level truly is currently.

Also, I can't imagine Stroll is a particularly good driver for car development, considering he said the latest Japan upgrade didn't work for him but Alonso + the rest of the team praised it.

[-wkst-]

According to Schmidt (video blog) AMR gave ALO a deadline and therefor the quick decision.

He could have waiten what VER does to sign at RBR, with the risk of losing the AMR seat (SAI was interested).

Moreover he was offered a 1+1 contract at Mercedes (option on Mercedes side, not so attractive).

Schmidt believes that AMR is an attractive and logical solution for him, because the PU will be important again due to the changes: Honda knows what they do and Aramco has the most experience in efuels, which will play a big role in 2026.

[SSJ4]

yeah after the whole alpine scenario he would never accept a 1+1 contract. also interested if the new contract has any performance clauses in play

[diffuser]

yeah after the whole alpine scenario he would never accept a 1+1 contract. also interested if the new contract has any performance clauses in play

LOL Peformance clause for Alonso .... Don't kill people in the factory if the car is slow!!!

[peewon]

According to Schmidt (video blog) AMR gave ALO a deadline and therefor the quick decision.

He could have waiten what VER does to sign at RBR, with the risk of losing the AMR seat (SAI was interested).

Moreover he was offered a 1+1 contract at Mercedes (option on Mercedes side, not so attractive).

Schmidt believes that AMR is an attractive and logical solution for him, because the PU will be important again due to the changes: Honda knows what they do and Aramco has the most experience in efuels, which will play a big role in 2026.

Can you point to the vlog please? This honestly sounds like the likeliest sequence of events regarding the contract situation. Alonso's talk regarding retirement made little sense as the man has never seemed like he doesn't want to race. I thought the offers probably weren't good enough but clearly it was a time biding tactic. I wonder if he has left himself some wiggle room in case that RB seat opens up.

As for the new regs, there's so many new engineering challenges involved with them that it's impossible to predict. Aero pedigree still lies with Newey. RB are moaning about the PU regs whereas Merc seem content.

[diffuser]

The team are completely stuck where they are while Stroll occupies the second seat (unless Honda produce a Merc-2014 style engine in 2026, and they have 1+ second advantage on the field).

They aren't going to finish higher than 5th again in the WCC, purely because of Stroll and his lack of contribution. He's also not a proper benchmark for Alonso, who is still performing at a high level, but is now well into his 40's. Someone like Sainz, for example, would be a much better benchmark of where Fernando's level truly is currently.

Also, I can't imagine Stroll is a particularly good driver for car development, considering he said the latest Japan upgrade didn't work for him but Alonso + the rest of the team praised it.

The 2026 cars are gonna be very different to drive. We'll see if Stroll can master them.

He seems to have problems on technical tracks getting the car balance right for the way he drives. He maybe getting the balance setup from Alonso but can't drive it in a way to take advantage of it. Hard to say. I haven't really listened to the onboard from Stroll this year but in the past it's almost as if the engineer is telling him what to do. While Alonso, the Engineer will say stuff like "this is now available, if you want". It will be helpful for performance if you lift and coast more in turn 3. It still a lot of extrapolation from a few words being said.

[RedNEO]

[KimiRai]

So Alonso stays in Aston! Hopefully Flavio chose well.

Not sure if it was already mentioned (haven't had the time to read yet), but pitstops were quite good in Japan, best ones 2.3, 2.4 & 2.4, it felt to me like an improvement. Maybe Hegedus effect starting to trickle in.

Good to know that an aero kit indeed arrived for Japan, much better upgrade pace so far compared to last year. Lance must improve in Shanghai. Apart from an amazing weekend from Fernando I found it funny that he once again lifted on purpose on another high speed corner like the 130 R, multiple times even, but no "erratic driving" this time though