Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko has warned Aston Martin that they could be set for a “rude awakening” next season, if they choose the wrong direction to develop in.
Aston Martin have endured a truly bizarre 2023 campaign, which started with them being the only team capable of even contemplating the idea of challenging Red Bull.
Given that they were towards the back of the midfield in 2022, seeing the side suddenly claiming consistent podiums was a sight to behold.
All of the team’s seven podiums this year have come courtesy of Fernando Alonso, who achieved six of the rostrums in the opening eight rounds of the season.
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He’s very much been Aston Martin’s team leader, as Lance Stroll has failed to extract the most from the AMR23 on a regular basis.
The Silverstone-based team spent the first half of the campaign as the second-best team; however, things have drastically changed.
As put by Lando Norris, Aston Martin have become “slower and slower” with each upgrade they’ve introduced.
In fact, Alonso started from the pit-lane at last weekend’s United States Grand Prix as he wanted to remove the upgrades from his car.
The side’s failure to understand which direction to go in has seen the outfit fall from second in the Constructors’ Championship to fifth, a spot they’ll likely claim unless McLaren endure a complete nightmare.
After starting 2023 so well, they’ve managed just one podium finish in the last 10 races.
It’s raised questions as to whether Aston Martin peaked too soon and if they know how to improve their car, with Marko warning the side that they are in for a difficult 2024 if they “make a mistake” in regard to deciding how to design their next challenger.
“You have to know as early as possible in the season what direction you are going for next year,” Marko said, as reported by Grandpx.news.
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“If you make a mistake, you could be in for a rude awakening at the start of the new season.”
Fixing their problems is something Aston Martin actually believe they’ve done, with technical director Dan Fallows – who used to work for Red Bull – having admitted ahead of the Mexican Grand Prix that the issues with the upgrades last weekend have been solved.
“We were simply wrong, and I think we have fixed the problem now,” Fallows revealed.