In a wet-to-dry Montreal classic, Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll finished sixth and seventh respectively, both drivers executing a solid race to finish behind the inherently quicker cars from Red Bull, Mercedes and McLaren.
It was a big boost for the Silverstone-based squad after going backwards during the first third of the 2024 season relative to its nearest rivals. RB appeared to have leapfrogged it in the pecking order, but by outscoring the Faenza team by 10 points in Montreal, Aston has strengthened its grip on fifth place.
But ahead of a return to more traditional European venues like Barcelona, the Red Bull and Silverstone, Aston Martin is not getting ahead of itself on whether or not it has solved the tricky handling characteristics and changing balance of its AMR24, which will be much more exposed on high-downforce circuits with longer and faster corners.
“It would be premature to say we have understood everything,” team principal Mike Krack cautioned.
“I think we have a lot of work to do still. But obviously, it was a step in the right direction this weekend.
“There are different and difficult circuits coming up, so we need to sit down and see what is the best possible package for the races to come, because they will be very intense.”
Stroll was convinced Aston’s Montreal performance was track-specific because of its emphasis on aerodynamic efficiency and performance in slower corners.
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
“The track definitely suited our car” he said. “We’re quick in a straight line, not so much downforce, efficient, good DRS switch, all these things, which is good for Canada.
“The car is still maybe going to be more difficult come Barcelona and Budapest and these kind of long corners.”
“We capitalised on a weekend where the car was pretty strong all weekend. And we’ll see in Barcelona, a very different kind of track, what we can do there. I think we are [solving our issues] but it’s not an overnight change.”
Alonso teased new upgrades for his Spanish GP home race that he hopes will further turn around Aston’s fortunes, although he too feared Barcelona would be a more difficult weekend for his squad.
“On paper, we were happier with Montreal than Barcelona, we think that this track was going to be better for us but let’s see if we have a nice surprise,” he added.
“I know the team is also working very hard to bring some new things for Barcelona, so it’s going to be a very interesting weekend. Let’s see if we can score points again with both cars, which obviously is the thing that we are looking at at the moment.
“The last few months were very productive for us in terms of understanding the cars so I’m very confident.”