2024 PRE-SEASON TESTING

The Aston Martin Aramco Formula One® Team today completed the F1 Pre-Season Test in Bahrain with over 379 laps driven of the 5.412km Bahrain International Circuit. 

Over the course of the three-day test, Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso took turns inside the cockpit of the new AMR24. Fernando was behind the wheel for Wednesday and Thursday’s morning sessions, with Lance driving the car into the evenings.

For the final day of the Test, Lance got behind the wheel of the AMR24 in a limited morning of running due to a prolonged red flag. Fernando concluded the team’s test program under the floodlit circuit.

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Fernando:
“We have tried to learn as much as possible during this test and focused on ourselves. It would be nice to have the predictions and knowledge of where everyone is but that is not the case in testing. The AMR24 is a step forward from last year and we just have to see how big of a step forward we have taken compared to everybody else. We will know more next week after Qualifying. It was good to get a number of laps on the board over the three days and I feel fit and ready to go for the start of the new season.”

Lance:

“It’s great to be out in Bahrain for testing – I’m especially pleased to be here after missing last year’s pre-season test. Time in the car is so valuable for all of us: we’re gathering data and learning about the AMR24 with every lap we complete. We’ve made good use of these days to run a lot of parts and set-ups – the car feels better every day – and we’ve not had any reliability issues. It’s still too early to make any big predictions, but I’m looking forward to first race of the year next week.”

Mike Krack, Team Principal:
“A successful test from our perspective. We have focused on our programme and gradually worked through the usual system checks and test items. The AMR24 has run reliably and we have a good understanding of how the car is working. We have validated that we have taken a step forward over the winter – delivering gains and performance in key areas. It is a long season ahead and we have multiple projects in development – some of which are very promising. We respect the competition, and this test has demonstrated that the whole grid will be incredibly close this season – but we are excited for what is ahead. I want to thank the test team at the track and everyone back at the AMRTC for getting us fully prepared for the start of the season. Everyone is looking forward to going racing next weekend.”

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Max:

“Overall it was very good today. We focused on the long running to get more of an understanding of the car and it was good to see the performance of the car was very strong. We made the plan to not focus on pure lap time and tried different compounds, so I am happy with the laps that we did today. As we head into the race weekend it is all about fine tuning the car and also seeing what the race throws at you when you push the car to the limit. We now need to look into the data a bit more and try to come up with a plan for the week ahead. We’ve had a really positive test and we have learned a lot from everything we changed, so we are looking forward to next week.

Checo:

“It has been a good start to the year for the Team, we have got plenty of mileage over the last few days. The run program that we put together was very good and meant we really made the most out of the days. Now it is time to look forward to the race next weekend, I have a good feeling in the car, so let’s see once we get to race it, but the feeling is very positive.”

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Alex:

Firstly, we’ve got a decent car to go racing with. I do think we struggled a little bit with the car across day one and two with just how different it is, struggling to rebalance it, but we made some big headway in making the car more drivable. With the changing car characteristics, we shifted some of our historical problems to different areas. Still, we’ve been able to fix some of these but unfortunately in the process, we’ve picked up a few things we didn’t like. Despite this, we did a bit of a radical set-up today and this worked out for the better. Looking at the rest of the grid, the midfield has closed up a lot with everyone making a big jump from last year, so it’s all quite equal throughout the field. This year is going to be all about the fine details and potential tracks that better suit others, so there are going to be lots of interesting battles.

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Yuki:

“Testing went fairly smooth. We didn’t exactly follow our run program as there were some issues with the track, but we responded well to them. I felt the car has made a good step forward compared to last year, so I’m happy with it so far. The balance has improved, and especially the front felt strong. We still have to find more with the rear, but it’s moving in the right direction. I completed many laps over the last couple of days and it was a good experience that allowed us to collect good data and help find the limit of the car. Looking at the timesheet, we’re not last, but it’s difficult to know where we are compared to the rest of the field, so I’m excited to start racing again next week.”

Daniel:

“I think testing has been good and we’ve definitely developed the car from last year. I completed plenty of laps and feel pretty fit. Unfortunately, there were some issues on track with the drain, and we were worried we wouldn’t get our race run in, but luckily, we did. I did some short runs on Day 1 and 2 and race simulation this morning. In terms of performance, I think we’re where we expected to be. We’re aiming to fight in the midfield group and we’ll try to make the most of what we got. Overall, it was a smooth test, so I don’t think we leave here with any concerns. We made some gains and know where we are, but if we want to make sure to fight for Q3 and points consistently, there’s certainly a bit more we need to find.”