Fernando Alonso has admitted that Aston Martin need to “regroup and get better” ahead of the final triple header of the season, with the team having failed to score points during a challenging weekend at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix which also saw an unusual formation lap crash for Lance Stroll.
After finishing at the rear of the pack during Saturday’s Sprint, the squad’s prospects did not greatly improve during a rescheduled qualifying session on Sunday morning as both Alonso and Stroll crashed out amid challenging weather conditions.
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While the team were able to repair each car in time to start the race, Stroll spun off during the formation lap and found himself beached in the gravel, leaving him unable to participate. Alonso, meanwhile, looked on course for points until a wide moment at the final restart dropped him to the back of the field.
The Spaniard managed to make up nearly 20 seconds to catch Zhou Guanyu and take 14th place, but later admitted that the AMR24 had struggled in race form compared to its earlier performance in qualifying.
“It was a tough race,” said Alonso. “The car was less performing in the race than in qualifying, we changed a couple of components after the crash and for sure it was not the same anymore.
