Fernando Alonso lauds McLaren & Mercedes’ challenge to

Fernando Alonso feels that the progress made by both McLaren and Mercedes in performance in 2023 and 2024 is motivating for Aston Martin. Speaking to onsite media ahead of the 2024 Belgian GP, the Spanish driver said that the turnaround in the performance of both teams was inspiring for the Silverstone team.

Starting at the bottom of the grid in 2023, McLaren managed to turn around their performance midway through the season and have carried on to be title contenders in 2024. Meanwhile, Mercedes, had a turn-around in their performance around the Canadian GP this year and have won two races since.Aston Martin, on the other hand, started the 2023 season strong in second place in the constructors’ championship before trailing off in the second half to finish fifth. Fernando Alonso secured eight podiums in 2023, but in 2024, the Silverstone squad are back in the midfield.

Alonso thinks Aston Martin should take heart from Mercedes’ and McLaren’s recent performance improvements. He believes that his team has the best facilities and tools to be able to put up good performances and reduce the gap to the frontrunners.The 42-year-old feels that the recent upgrades in Budapest have helped them make significant progress. According to the two-time world champion, the team has an increased confidence on the track due to their improved understanding of their vehicle

McLaren last year. Both of them proved that it’s possible to recover a significant gap to the leaders. Mercedes was fighting with Haas for four races and now they won two Grands Prix. McLaren was out of Q1 for a few races at the beginning of last year and they were fighting for victory. So it is possible. It’s up to us. It’s up to the team to understand the upgrades, where are the key parts of the car to find performance, how to find that performance. We have the facilities. We will have the wind tunnel at the end of the year probably ready. So there are a couple of people to look at thi