Fernando Alonso ‘a driver and not a technician’ as questions asked over poor AMR24 upgrades

Fernando Alonso.

Fernando Alonso admitted Aston Martin “deserved” to come away from the Spanish Grand Prix without points this weekend, as he predicted another “painful” race in Austria next time out.

Alonso and Lance Stroll were both lapped as the two Aston Martin drivers came away from the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya without points, marking the second time in three races the Silverstone-based team saw both cars finish outside the top 10.

Fernando Alonso: ‘I’m a driver, not a technician’

Additional reporting by Sam Cooper

Alonso was the highest-placed Aston Martin driver in 12th after the race, but he admitted the combination of the AMR24 lacking speed and not having the right amount of grip led to a difficult weekend – one that he is not expecting to improve in the coming races, either.

“A little bit disappointed because we didn’t score any points, and we deserved not to score any points because we didn’t have the pace the whole weekend,” Alonso told media including PlanetF1.com after the Spanish Grand Prix.

“But in the race, it was extremely difficult when you slide so much in the corners, also you kill the tyres.

“So you have two problems: You don’t have the pace, plus you have a lot of degradation. So all in all, it has been a very long race for us – we need to get better for Austria.

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“It is frustrating, but there’s nothing you can do now, so you start thinking of Austria immediately when you see the chequered flag, and what you can do differently in Austria.

“I think it’s going to be painful as well, because it has some characteristics of Barcelona with the long corners and the high-speed section. So it’s going to be another tough weekend, also in Silverstone, arguably.

“We cannot get too frustrated, it’s time to work harder, to talk less, to deliver more and it’s what we want to do.”

While Aston Martin have taken a more aggressive approach to their upgrade schedule this season, with the development curve of their rivals having seen the Silverstone-based team move down the competitive order as last year progressed after flying out of the traps.

They have continued to place new parts on the AMR24 this time around, but Alonso admitted they have not had the desired effect as their rival teams have continued to hold a competitive advantage.

“I’m looking forward, but we’ve been upgrading the car a lot and we didn’t deliver the results,” he said.

“So now is also a matter of whatever we bring to the track, it does deliver what we expect and we start getting better and better.

“So as I said, we need to work hard, get better every race but without too much talking or promising.”

When asked by PlanetF1.com why the team are bringing upgrades that are not quite working as expected, Alonso responded with a smile: “I am a driver, not a technician.”

Aston Martin remain fifth in the Constructors’ Championship after the Spanish Grand Prix, though they are now 93 points behind Mercedes one place above them.