Fernando Alonso urges Aston Martin to ‘find something’ after lacklustre Friday showing

Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso.

Fernando Alonso said Aston Martin must “find something” overnight after only managing P14 and P18 in the second practice session in Spain.

The two-time World Champion would have been hoping to give his home crowd something to cheer about but found it tough going on Friday and admitted there was work to be done overnight.

Fernando Alonso concedes ‘difficult’ day in Barcelona

Alonso finished P9 in FP1 but fell five spots in the second session and suggested the car was not in a good window throughout the day’s running.

“It was difficult. Difficult balance,” he said. “The level of grip felt quite low to everyone.

“So we need to find more pace for tomorrow. We have P14, P17 today, that’s probably not too good at the moment. So we need to find something tonight.”

Alonso was asked if it helped coming back to a “more conventional circuit” like Barcelona but refuted the suggestion that the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya was a reference point for tracks ahead, arguing that only a handful of circuits on the modern F1 calendar are similar to the Spanish track.

“It really depends on what you would call a conventional circuit. I think now we have a lot of Bakus, Miamis, Vegas.

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“So to come here, maybe there are six or seven venues the same as Barcelona and 18 that are different. So it’s always a trade off that you need to make but for sure we seem not in the window of the car at the moment so we have some work to do.”

Alonso’s team-mate Lance Stroll finished P14 and P18 on Friday and spoke in similar terms to the Spaniard.

“Challenging day for us,” the Canadian said. “Not very competitive so a lot to look at tonight and see what we can do tomorrow.

“A lot of degradation, these hot conditions. This track is always high deg so it’s going to be something [of a] challenge on Sunday managing but we have to find something for tomorrow.”

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