Fernando Alonso wonders if Pirelli’s newly constructed tyres are why Red Bull and Aston Martin have fallen backwards since the British Grand Prix, with both teams having endured a frustrating qualifying at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Since claiming six podiums in the opening nine races of his Aston Martin career, the Silverstone-based team have taken a “step backwards”.
Aston Martin have gone from being the second fastest team to the fifth, with Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren having overtaken them.
Whilst Red Bull continue to lead, they too have taken a significant hit, as proven on Saturday at the Hungaroring where Lewis Hamilton claimed pole position.
Want to work in Formula 1? Browse the latest F1 job vacancies
Red Bull were expected to rebuild their sizeable advantage following the introduction of a new upgrades package; however, that hasn’t happened.
Interestingly, Pirelli introduced new tyres at the recent British Grand Prix, something which Alonso has linked to Aston Martin’s and Red Bull’s struggles.
Whilst the compounds are the same, the tyres are constructed differently, with Alonso stating is as a “coincidence” that the two teams who started 2023 at the front have fallen backwards since the introduction of the new tyres.
“We are one tenth from McLaren, so it’s not as bad as maybe the result looks,” Alonso said after qualifying.
“But yeah, we need to improve, there’s no doubt we made a step backwards in the last few races, and everyone did a step forward.
“Also it is a coincidence that when the new Pirelli tyres came in Silverstone there are a couple of teams that were struggling more, and a couple of teams that are very happy with the car now.
“It’s not only us, I think Red Bull has clearly been hit with those tyres, they’ve been one-two in every qualifying, one-two in every race, and now they are not even on pole position.
“Checo [Perez] is struggling to be in the top 10. At Silverstone I think Max [Verstappen] was only three seconds in front of Lando [Norris in the race]. So I see things a little bit abnormal since Silverstone.
READ: Max Verstappen leaves the door wide open for Daniel Ricciardo to displace Sergio Perez
“I think you can feel the car a little bit different with the tyres. But as I said it is difficult to sometimes to be neutral.
“Obviously, we didn’t improve the car much compared to the main competitors. We have every Thursday now the new parts for every team. So it’s very easy now to see which teams are bringing more and more parts to the grand prix.
“But if I look back to Red Bull after being first and second, in every practice, qualifying and race and now I think this weekend in none of the practice, in Silverstone he [Verstappen] was only three seconds in front of Lando. I think Red Bull lost performance since Silverstone, that’s a fact.”