Aston Martin Praises Alonso and Stroll Amid Car Performance Struggles: F1 Season Updates
Aston Martin Performance Director Tom McCullough has commended Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll for their “very professional” attitude as they continue to strive on improvements – both in the short and long term after the team’s mixed results in the 2024 season thus far.
The team has not yet been able to regain its form after a memorable good start to the campaign in 2023; Alonso’s P5 in Saudi Arabia is their best performance to date.
At Silverstone, Aston Martin showed improvement after a particularly challenging run as the triple header got began, with both cars finishing inside the top-10 to secure some much-needed points.
Before the British Grand Prix, McCullough was asked how hard Alonso in particular was working behind the scenes. With Stroll and Alonso both committed to the team going forward—having signed contract extensions that will keep them at the outfit through the introduction of new regulations in 2026—she was questioned.
“We know that drivers want to be at the front of the grid, so if you make changes to the car that don’t quite give you the desired relative performance, the drivers won’t be as happy,” McCullough said.
“The drivers enjoy scoring points and seeing their name at the top.” They put in a lot of effort in the debriefs and are quite professional.
The good news is that we can see where we need to make improvements because both of them are expressing the same thing about the car, according to the statistics. Right now, everything is focused on getting those pieces onto the automobile as soon as possible.
It happens at the same time as the team is setting up elements for its long-term growth, such as expanding their base at Silverstone and appointing Andy Cowell, the former head of the Mercedes Power Unit, as their new CEO.
In October, Cowell will take over for Martin Whitmarsh in the position, and McCullough is optimistic about Cowell’s ability to contribute to Aston Martin’s continued growth.
McCullough remarked, “Obviously Andy’s got a wealth of experience from his time at formerly Cosworth and then Mercedes.” Martin has previously collaborated with him.
“Having someone like Andy take over from that, I think there will be a good handover period between the two of them. It’s that calibre of person you’re wanting to help see the big picture, make the big decisions to make the team keep striding forwards as we are doing. Martin has been instrumental in the campus development and where we are as a team, with a lot of the big strategic thinking.”
