Aston Martin is bracing for a demanding United States Grand Prix on Sunday, with Fernando Alonso expressing expectations of a "heavily compromised" race performance.
The team faced another early exit in Q1 during qualifying, making it a recurring setback in recent races against competitors like Mercedes and Ferrari.
Aston Martin introduced a new floor for the AMR23 in Austin, seeking an advantage, but encountered difficulties in collecting vital data during the final practice session of the Sprint weekend on Friday. The team had to swap parts on Lance Stroll's car, causing him to miss a substantial portion of FP1. Meanwhile, Alonso's practice time was also limited.
In the qualifying session, Aston Martin's fortunes did not improve as both drivers failed to progress beyond Q1. This places Alonso in 17th position for the Grand Prix on Sunday, with Stroll at the back of the grid in 19th.
Alonso commented on the qualifying challenges, stating, "No, it was the maximum, I think. The lap was not ideal, especially the out lap, and the traffic was very badly managed. I think I crossed the line within one second of the limit, so I started the lap too close to the cars in front, so that didn't help."
He acknowledged the team's difficulties during the practice sessions and the impact on qualifying, saying, "We should go back and complete the day completely, starting from the morning. We had a terrible session; Lance didn't complete any laps; I did only six or seven quality laps with the new package."
Looking ahead to the race, Alonso recognised the challenges, stating, "The lap felt okay, and the pace was really not good enough to be into Q2, and let's see tomorrow if we can make a good sprint because Sunday's race is heavily compromised now."
The two-time world champion also pointed out that the lack of practice earlier in the day significantly contributed to the team's qualifying struggles, saying, "Too many unknowns in terms of how to operate the package and the new car, so I think we arrived a bit blind into qualifying, and obviously we see the result."
Lance Stroll, on the other hand, did not believe his limited training in FP1 affected his performance in qualifying, stating, "It didn't feel like it was a bad session, I think. I actually felt like I was okay in the car, and even after not running in FP1, I felt like I got to grips with the car pretty quickly. But yeah, we just weren't quick enough."
