"Now his cornucopia is simply empty" - Ralf Schumacher feels Aston Martin's stagnation could be because their "Red Bull man" is out of ideas
Ralf Schumacher recently suggested that Aston Martin's stagnation this season could possibly be due to former Red Bull man Dan Fallows running out of ideas.
The Silverstone-based team started the season with a bang. The team was unanimously considered the second-fastest car on the grid at the start. They were a regular podium contender too; Fernando Alonso has scored as many as 6 podiums this season.
But ever since Aston Martin introduced its major upgrade package in Canada, they have been been on a downhill slope. Except for the race in Zandvoort, where the team secured a podium, the results have gone from bad to worse.
There's almost a sense that the car has got slower every time a new upgrade has been added. The team is now on the verge of finishing 5th in the championship, behind McLaren.
Talking about this stagnation, Ralf Schumacher claimed that one of the reasons behind it could be that the Red Bull know-how that Dan Fallows brought to Aston Martin is now exhausted.
He told F1-Insider.com:
“I hope they find their form again. After Mexico we certainly know more. But what if the former Red Bull man Fallows was able to bring a lot of Red Bull’s know-how to the car this year and now his cornucopia is simply empty because he no longer knew of the further developments of his former team? In any case, that could also be a reason for the stagnation in performance.”
Helmut Marko had also touched upon the subject earlier, saying that Aston Martin needed to be careful about the direction they wanted the car to take.
“You have to know as early as possible in the season what direction you are going for next year," he had said a few days ago. "If you make a mistake, you could be in for a rude awakening at the start of the new season. Mercedes had this experience in 2023.”
Ralf Schumacher questions how long Fernando Alonso will remain patient with Aston Martin
Ralf Schumacher also questioned how long Fernando Alonso will keep quiet at Aston Martin. The Spaniard is an ambitious driver and tends to get the most out of any car he drives. But after a strong run early in the season things have started to regress, and this could make him lose his cool.
Talking about the Spaniard, Ralf said:
"How long Fernando Alonso will keep quiet? He is known for his ambition, which can quickly escalate into a bad mood when things don’t go his way. Because everyone knows that it’s not his fault.”
The team did not have a great run in qualifying either as Alonso and Stroll could not even make it to Q3 in the 2023 F1 Mexican GP.