Alonso says Aston Martin’s pace varies sharply by circuit

At Thursday’s Singapore Grand Prix press conference, Fernando Alonso said Aston Martin used the same car, setup and power unit at Baku and Malaysia, just five days apart, yet the performance difference was huge. He said the variation depended heavily on circuit layout and the straights.

Alonso called Malaysia’s points and competitive race pace encouraging. He said the performance variation was not about setup experiments or getting the car further into its operating window. He also said Aston Martin still struggled for pace and straight-line speed during a season he described as painful.

Alonso called Singapore a good opportunity because it has fewer straights. He thought Aston Martin could be “a little bit in the mix” there, but said the team would be “right at the back” at some other circuits.