Aston Martin keeping faith as Red Bull 'approach perfection'

Aston Martin's speed was a resounding surprise at the beginning ofthe season, with the AMR23 breaking cover and immediately lookingfast. The green cars of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll ransmoothly in pre-season testing, with the team knowing it was in thegaggle behind Red Bull, as Alonso claimed six podiums in the firsteight races of the year, including second in Monaco as Red Bull wonevery one of those races. The team could not quite keep up with thedevelopment rate of other teams, and would sink into the secondhalf of the season, suddenly fighting on the fringes of the pointsinstead of for podiums. Alonso bagged another podium finish inBrazil to provide a needed boost, but as ambassador Pedro de laRosa, states in an exclusive interview with RacingNews365 AstonMartin had no illusions when things did go very well in the firsthalf of the season. "I think we knew how difficult it would be tobeat Red Bull," De la Rosa says. "Everything had to fall our wayand they had to make some mistakes. In hindsight, I don't thinkanyone was close enough to really put pressure on Red Bull and makemistakes. "And that's why they didn't make any mistakes, that's thereality. But I think we came very close in Monaco, the closestwe've ever come. However, Red Bull always had an advantage." "It'sirrelevant where you finish." The Spaniard, who himself drove forJordan, Arrows, Jaguar, McLaren, Sauber and HRT in F1, saw that RedBull had no weaknesses. "Their advantage you saw in qualifying andif it wasn't in qualifying, they did have the advantage in terms oftyre wear in the race," he says. "So they simply had no weaknessesand were incredibly good in terms of race speed. That wasultimately the key to success, because if they were beaten at onepoint in qualifying, it was already clear that the other teamsdidn't have enough speed in the race. "In Monaco we were able tochallenge them, but they were still too strong. We will try againnext season." De la Rosa also has no idea whether any team canreally beat Red Bull in 2024. "The honest answer is that I don'tknow. Nobody knows. It depends mainly on how far Red Bull candevelop its package, as they approach perfection. "The closer youget to 100% within the regulations, the harder it becomes to findextra lap time." Aston Martin is not looking at Red Bull for now,adds the 52-year-old. "We have to concentrate on ourselves and makesure that it doesn't matter what other people do. "We will continueto improve and develop and have no specific goals. We should onlyset goals in terms of development speed, not a position in thechampionship. "It is irrelevant where you finish. It's onlyimportant how far behind the winner you finish and catch up in ayear. And we have been very strong at that in the last two years:closing the gap to the driver in pole position."