The second week of car launches got underway as Aston Martin took the AMR24 to the track alongside the new Vantage GT3 and sports car.
There is a striking aggressiveness to the design of the new upgrades on the new Aston Martin. They switched to a push rod rear suspension, whilst possessing a narrower sidepod inlet, akin to Red Bull’s, as well as a deeper, though narrower gulley on the top of the sidepods. It also includes alterations to both the front and rear wing as well.
The F1 car was also unveiled alongside a new Aston Martin Vantage sports car, alongside a new GT3 car possessing the same name with the aim of being competitive in the GT World Challenge series and World Endurance Championship, alongside their F1 endeavours.
Aston Martin were the surprise package at the start of 2023, as Fernando Alonso was able to score 6 podiums in the opening 8 races, including a near victory at a chaotic Monaco Grand Prix. However, they faltered in the second half of the season, falling to 5th in the Constructors Championship, having once been 2nd.
However, the team have said they have learned a lot from how and why their upgrades failed to deliver the performance they’d hoped for, with Technical Director Dan Fallows explaining that the team wanted a good platform for development, and that they’ve “made changes all over the car. It’s very different in many ways and the majority of the parts have changed on it. But it is really still essentially a strong evolution of last year’s car, so we have kind of built on the end of AMR23.”
He was also confident that the team could challenge the dominant Red Bull Racing, stating that he “believes they’re beatable”. This would be good news for two time world champion Fernando Alonso, who after had his strongest championship result in over a decade, has expressed interest in finally getting the team’s first win under the Aston Martin identity. However, with his contract up at the end of the season, and a vacant Mercedes seat available, the Spaniard has been coy about where his future lies.
” I cannot think too much about the future right now, I will have to wait a few races. I am aware of my situation, which is very unique. There are only three world champions on the grid – and fast world champions, because in the past maybe there were some world champions but they were not so committed to be fast – and I am probably the only one available for ’25 so I have a good position.
“But, at the same time, when I make the decision if I want to keep racing or not for the future first and only talk that I will have at the beginning is with Aston Martin because that will be my only one priority.”
