Aston Martin have had a rollercoaster of emotions this season. The Silverstone team started the season so strongly, but tailed off significantly towards the end of the season.
Aston Martin went into the 2023 season after another sub-par season in 2022. The Silverstone team finished seventh in the constructors' championship - starting the season horrendously and gradually improving their AMR22 later on into the season.
At the end of 2022, four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel decided to retire from Formula 1, leaving a spot open. That spot would be taken by fellow world champion Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard would partner up with Lance Stroll for the 2023 season.
Shockingly good start to the season
Since becoming Aston Martin in 2021, team owner Lawrence Stroll set out a five-year plan to win the constructors' championship. The first two years did not show great progress - finishing seventh both times in the constructors' championship in 2021 and 2022.
However, at the start of the 2023 season, the Silverstone team would find themselves having the second-quickest car on the grid - only behind Red Bull.
The early season form of Aston Martin was exceptionally good - Alonso constantly fighting for podium positions. The Spaniard would secure six podium finishes from the first eight rounds, propelling his team to second in the constructors' championship. The 42-year-old secured a second place finish in Monaco.
Many thought with the new additions - including Dan Fallows - instantly made the team a frontrunning team. However, as the season progressed, the form would dip significantly.
The constant downfall
Alonso's podium in Montreal would mark the team's last podium before going on a four race drought without one. Alonso would finish second in a chaotic Dutch Grand Prix in the rain. However, the Silverstone team's form would keep declining throughout the season.
Alonso would only be able to achieve one more podium finish after summer break along with the one in Zandvoort. Sao Paulo would be his final podium of the season - narrowly beating Red Bull's Sergio Perez in a photo finish.
The Silverstone team had a great car to start with in the season and wanted to upgrade the car to potentially challenge Red Bull at the front. However, their issue was when trying to upgrade the car. The upgrades made the car worse and had a more limited operating window with the set-up.
Aston Martin did not understand the upgrades on the car, leading to many issues - including only fighting for the last points playing positions rather than fighting for podium finishes.
The development side is what let the Silverstone team down, as they would drop from second to fifth by the end of the season in the constructors' championship.
Aston Martin would lose out to Ferrari during the middle of the season for third. The McLaren - since Austria - stepped up their game, fighting for many podiums. This led to the Woking team beating the Silverstone team to fourth in the constructors' championship.
Struggle for Stroll
Stroll had a disappointing 2023 season, being convincingly outperformed by Alonso throughout the whole season. The Canadian would have the worst nightmare possible before the start of the season - injuring himself in a cycling accident.
However, the 25-year-old was able to recover enough to take part in the race and finished in a respectable sixth place in the season opener in Bahrain.
Although that was a good performance, the rest of his season would not. The 25-year-old would end the season on 74 points, resulting in him finishing in 11th in the drivers' championship.
Whereas Alonso would finish fourth in the championship on 206 points - 132 points more than the Canadian could achieve throughout the 2023 campaign.
Stroll, overall, has had an incredibly frustrating season. The Aston Martin driver was regularly out in Q1 and finishing outside the points positions. The frustrations has even led to the Canadian driver taking out his anger on his own team.
Many fans believed that the 25-year-old should not have a seat in Formula 1 due to his performances and that he had costed Aston Martin from a higher position in the constructors' championship.
Overall, it is still a big improvement from the Silverstone team from the previous two years. It is still progress for Lawrence Stroll's five-year plan of winning the championship. The team will be hoping that 2024 will be another improvement.
Nathan Hartley
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