Fernando Alonso believes the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team lost out of some valuable information with its AMR23 due to Lance Stroll being absent from pre-season testing last week.
Stroll was injured in a cycling accident prior to the test at the Bahrain International Circuit, with his place in the car being taken by test driver Felipe Drugovich. The exact details of Stroll’s injuries remain a mystery, whilst he still remains a doubt for the season opening race in Bahrain this weekend.
Alonso took responsibility for much of the testing, running solo on day two and taking the afternoon sessions on the other two days, but the veteran Spaniard believes the team would have had a better test had Stroll been present.
The Spaniard feels Stroll’s knowledge of Aston Martin’s previous cars would have been beneficial, particularly with Alonso having moved across from the BWT Alpine F1 Team for the 2023 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season.
“We are learning a lot about the car, I think this car is very different compared to last year,” Alonso is quoted as saying by Motorsport.com. “We are changing a lot of things.
“Unfortunately we don’t have Lance, because that would be a benefit for us. We miss him here because some of the changes we’re making to the car, we don’t know if it’s this car, or it’s just an Aston Martin thing that for me feels different.
“So it’s not ideal, but hopefully he can give us some feedback soon, and we can make some progress.
“It hurts a lot. I think we miss him because some of my comments or my feelings with the car, we never know if it’s just me in a new team and a new car, or it’s just maybe an Aston Martin thing that Lance would spot.
“So brake pedal feeling, power steering…all these things I don’t know if this is a legacy from the team, or is just new on this car. So yeah, we cannot do it without him, so I hope he can come back soon.”
