Who followed the last seasons of F1 would never say that Aston Martin could emerge as the second force in the category at the start of 2023. The problem is that anyone who also watched what the second part of the first half of the current championship was like would not believe it either.

Like a dolphin, Aston Martin emerged at the start of 2023, made a joke – good, it is true, but quickly resurfaced. For those who started the year dreaming big and, clearly moving forward by breaking the blockade of the big three teams and jumping to the ‘F1 A’, reality quickly knocked on the door. And the greens are now in free fall.

The holidays came at the best possible time for the team commanded by Lawrence Promenade. After a strong and promising start, but fraught with mistrust from people who thought the team wouldn’t last, Aston Martin fell and today looks more in the rear view mirror than the front. Behind, a little less erratic and more powerful Ferrarino more hunger McLaren. That while the Red Bull challenge another category and the mercedes also walk harder.

And this is precisely where things become contrasting in a broader analysis of Aston Martin’s year. After all, let’s face it, a team that goes from seventh in one season to partially third in the next is great, but the challenge the team set itself months ago was very high. That is to say: it rose absurdly, it fell just as well afterwards.

So if the championship ended now, the evaluation should be positive. These are four places gained in one year, all in all, something very rare in the category. The problem is that the year is not over yet and the trend is down.

It’s just that Aston Martin doesn’t have a very impressive growth record over the years, since it was called Force India, race point, anyway. Agreed, the team has never had so much money as now, but the rivals are more experienced, it makes a difference. The fight with Ferrari and Mercedes is still unequal in this aspect. And to make matters worse, there’s a McLaren that recently got the dream update.

“We are constantly speeding up development, and these cars are so complex that any changes affect other parts of the car. There are few changes you make to the car that work in isolation. We made a change at the start of the season and we hadn’t expected that it would have side effects. It was only after several races, on different types of circuits, that we realized how annoying it was. Mike Krakmaking it clear that the updates just made the green car worse.

Very strong start, steep drop and a shock of reality due to the lack of accurate updates, ok, it’s all been said, but something that can never escape the radar in reviews involving Aston Martin is the utter reliance that the team has on Fernando Alonso.

Third place so far in Drivers’ World Championship and owner of six podiums in the current season, the double world champion has allowed the team to dream of more. Fernando’s talent is raw, impressive and certainly more durable than average. Alonso is a titan, a guy who, at 42, is capable of going through a phase that 99% of runners will never reach.

Alonso does miracles, yes, but he can’t do everything. Being dependent on a talent like the Spaniard wouldn’t be a problem for Aston Martin, as long as the team had at least one good driver in the other cockpit. It didn’t.