The Debrief by Aramco: Abu Dhabi GP
Lance and Fernando secure points in the final race of 2023 to make this season our best to date.
Fernando finished seventh and Lance 10th to end our season on a high, bringing our total up to 280 points – the most Aston Martin F1 Team has ever scored in a campaign.
We split our strategies on Sunday with Fernando beginning the race on Medium tyres from P7 and Lance on Hards from P13.
Fernando effectively opened the pit window on Lap 12 as he swapped for Hards, emerging 19th. Lance meanwhile executed a longer first stint, running as high as second before pitting on Lap 22 for another set of Hards.
Lance emerged from his first pitstop in P14 but made moves in quick succession to recover to 12th, returning to the top 10 by Lap 30.
Taking his final pitstop on Lap 42, Lance swapped to Medium tyres, emerging 12th. On newer tyres than his rivals, he made it up to P11 soon after and passed Carlos Sainz for the final point on the final lap.
Fernando had taken his second stop on Lap 36 and returned to P7 on the penultimate lap, bringing our team's total up to 280 points and ensuring we've scored points in all but two weekends in 2023.
Read what Fernando, Lance, and Team Principal Mike Krack said on Sunday in Abu Dhabi.
Sunday
#14 | Fernando Alonso
"If you'd told me before this weekend that I'd finish fourth in the Drivers' Championship, I wouldn't have believed you – so this is a real gift.
"I'm really pleased with the way I’ve driven all season – I think this has been my best, most consistent season of driving since 2012.
"I think I got the maximum from the car all season. The whole Aston Martin team has worked incredibly hard and I am already looking forward to going into the winter and starting work for next season.
"We started this year as an underdog, but we'll start 2024 very much in the spotlight; we need to be ready for that.
"Finally, a big thank-you and well-done to everybody on the team – this year has far exceeded all our wildest expectations and every single person should be proud of what we've achieved."
#18 | Lance Stroll
"We elected to start the race on the Hard tyre and put in a long stint hoping for a Safety Car and a quick stop, but it didn’t play out like that, so we ended up running a two-stop strategy.
"Nevertheless, I think we were attacking well today and making progress throughout the field.
"We do tend to have better pace on a Sunday, and that was definitely the case today.
"I'm pleased that we finished 2023 with some stronger performances that we can be proud of. It's definitely been a year of learning – we've had ups and downs – but we're in a good place heading into next year."
Mike Krack | Team Principal
"I am pleased we could end this successful season with both cars inside the points. There were not too many opportunities in a race with no retirements and things pretty much played out in pace order.
"We did what we could, jumping [Yuki] Tsunoda with Fernando to finish seventh, and Lance made up three places to score the final point. As I reflect on the season, I see only the positives and the huge progress we made compared to last year.
"We have enjoyed some special days, especially in the early part of the season, and we came back strong in the recent races.
"Full credit to Red Bull Racing and Max [Verstappen] for the high standards and new records they have set. To win 21 races in a season is a remarkable achievement and can only act as motivation for us to close the gap ahead of 2024.
"It has been our best season to date as a team – scoring 280 vs 55 last season. I would like to thank everyone trackside and at the AMRTC for all the hard work. Also to our fans and all our partners – without their support we could not have achieved this progress."
Saturday
#14 | Fernando Alonso | Free Practice and Qualifying
"I'm pretty happy with seventh. We were not competitive earlier today in FP3 – 14th and 15th – so I had doubts about our overall pace this weekend.
"Then, in Q1, we were stronger than expected: I built up confidence through every session, so P7 is a nice result.
"It's an art to adjust to the rapid track evolution here and changing from scrubbed Soft tyres to a fresh set means there's a lot of mixed feedback from the car.
"It made Qualifying tricky. I think tyre degradation is going to make it a race of survival tomorrow night – let's hope for some chaos."
#18 | Lance Stroll | Free Practice and Qualifying
"The AMR23 felt good today and I was happy with our pace in Q1; I just didn't get the perfect clean lap in during my final Q2 run.
"I was pushing hard and trying to extract the most from the car, but it just didn't come together.
"The incredibly tight field meant that losing a couple of tenths was enough to stop us progressing to Q3.
"We generally have good race pace on a Sunday though, so we will see what we can do tomorrow to climb through the field and round off the season with a good result."
Mike Krack | Team Principal
"A well-executed performance by the team this evening in a session where very small gaps made the difference.
"Our laps were solid and we did not leave much on the table.
"We can race well from there and I expect both cars to compete for points tomorrow.
"There are some question marks over the long-run pace across the grid, but I think we are in good shape.
"There is plenty to play for in both championships and we will give it our all to end the season on a high note."
Friday
#14 | Fernando Alonso | Free Practice
"I didn't learn much from FP2. We were unlucky with the pair of red flags and there wasn't much action.
"It's important to get some practice in and FP2 is the only practice session with conditions that represent Qualifying and the race, so we have some work to do, but it's the same for everybody.
"We will try everything to end the season positively. Anything can happen, as we saw in the last two events. We will fight until the last lap and see what we can do."
#18 | Lance Stroll | Free Practice
"Despite the two red flags in FP2 we still had some good running today.
"I got a good feel for the car ahead of tomorrow and I'm pleased with the data we've collected today. Qualifying is important here, and the goal has to be to get into Q3.
“I'm looking forward to Sunday's race and we'll be pushing hard to end the season on a high."
#34 | Felipe Drugovich | Free Practice
"P2 in my second FP1 session of the year feels good! I really enjoyed it out there.
"The start of the session was primarily focused on some aerodynamic testing and so I had a rake attached to the car.
"That meant putting in some steady and consistent laps to make sure we were collecting the data we need to optimise the set-up for the upcoming sessions. After that, I was given some Soft tyres and allowed to push, which is always the best bit.
"The car felt quick – we've made progress since Monza – and I think we're starting the weekend off in a good place.
"Now I'm looking forward to supporting the team this weekend and then getting back out on track on Tuesday for the end-of-season young driver test. Having a full day of running is always beneficial to get into a good rhythm and to find the limits of the car."
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