Fernando Alonso has lifted the lid on why he decided to investigate Oscar Piastri’s McLaren at the end of the Dutch Grand Prix, claiming his Aston Martin team “have a lot to learn” from F1 2024’s dominant car.
Lando Norris collected McLaren‘s third victory of the season at Zandvoort, winning by 22.8 seconds in what was the biggest margin of victory in F1 2024 to date.
Fernando Alonso explains motive behind ‘dominant’ McLaren MCL38 investigation
Additional reporting by Pablo Hidalgo
Norris’s dominant performance came after McLaren introduced their biggest upgrade package since Miami in early May, featuring alterations to the rear wing, beam wing, brakes, suspension and floor.
Untelevised footage from Alonso‘s own onboard camera captured the two-time World Champion closely examining Piastri’s car after the race, crouching down at the rear of the MCL38 and at one stage dropping to his knees to inspect the McLaren’s floor.
Inspector Alonso reporting for duty 🕵️♂️#F1 #DutchGP pic.twitter.com/ZNgYWZ9wfe
— Formula 1 (@F1) August 25, 2024
The floor is known to produce a significant proportion of a car’s overall downforce under the current ground-effect regulations, which were implemented at the beginning of the 2022 season.
Speaking to DAZN Spain after the race, Alonso revealed that he is keen for Aston Martin to “take inspiration” from McLaren’s success, hailing the MCL38 as the dominant car at this stage of F1 2024.
He said: “It’s the car that dominates the championship right now.
“You always try to take inspiration from the cars that are winning, so we have a lot to learn from them.”
Having collected a total of eight podium finishes across their first year together last season, Alonso and Aston Martin have struggled to hit the same heights in F1 2024 with the team’s development scrutinised after a series of unsuccessful upgrades.
Alonso produced a determined drive to finish 10th at Zandvoort, claiming a second consecutive points finish for the first time since the Miami GP in early May.
The Spaniard admitted he was “a bit disappointed” to slip back to 10th from seventh place on the grid, but conceded that this is the limit of the current package with Aston Martin’s pace “a bit weak again.”
He explained: “With the four teams so far ahead of the rest, we always fight to be P9 and P10.
“Today P9 was not possible, Pierre [Gasly] had a better race than us so out of those two positions available in every race we got one.
“It was a difficult race. The pace was a bit weak again and I’m a bit disappointed not to be able to fight a bit higher having started the race P7.
“It is what it is and we are fighting a bit with everyone: in Hungary with Racing Bulls [VCARB], at Silverstone with Haas, at Spa with Williams and Alpine and here it was Alpine and Haas. We are in the middle of the midfield battle.”
Alonso quipped that Aston Martin will struggle to break out of the midfield battle for the remainder of the F1 2024 season, laughing: “Not only do I have experience, I can also read the future!
“In Monza we will also be maximum P9 and P10 and in all the races until we get to Abu Dhabi [laughing].”