HONDA The Power of Dreams

19th

DNF|Lap 25

The Belgian Grand Prix, Round 10 of the season, got underway at 3:00 pm local time on July 19. The race started under cloudy skies with occasional light rain, in conditions of 17°C ambient temperature and a track temperature of 28°C.

Aston Martin Aramco Formula One™ Team (AMAF1) strategically changed some power unit elements on both cars. As a result, Fernando Alonso received a 20-place grid penalty and Lance Stroll a 10-place grid penalty. With other drivers also receiving similar penalties, Stroll ultimately started from 20th on the grid and Alonso from 22nd. Both drivers started the race on hard tires.

An incident among the frontrunners on the opening lap brought out the Safety Car (SC). At the end of Lap 1, Alonso was running 17th and Stroll 19th. Several cars pitted under the Safety Car, promoting Alonso to 15th and Stroll to 16th on Lap 2. The Safety Car period ended on Lap 5 and the race resumed. As the cars behind gradually passed the two AMAF1 drivers, both dropped back to the rear of the field. At the end of Lap 15, Alonso was running 19th and Stroll 20th.

At the end of Lap 17, Stroll pitted for soft tires. Alonso also pitted at the end of Lap 19, switching to soft tires. On Lap 25, Stroll was instructed to pit and retired due to a mechanical problem. Although unable to improve his pace, Alonso continued to run persistently in 19th place.

Alonso made his second pit stop at the end of Lap 31, changing to hard tires. He continued to complete laps to gather data while aiming to reach the finish. In the end, Alonso took the checkered flag two laps behind the race winner to finish 19th.

“We did our best today, but we knew our limitations this weekend. We collected some valuable data for the team and are now focused on Budapest. We will need to maximize all of our practice sessions next weekend and learn as much as we can about the new package.”

“Our pace was pretty much where we expected it to be today. We knew this track was always going to be difficult for us and it was a tough race from the start.

“Towards the end I started to feel something with the gearbox, so we retired the car to investigate it.

“Hopefully we can be a bit more competitive in Hungary and have a stronger weekend there.”

“It was not an easy afternoon and we did not have the pace to compete, so we simply tried to maximize those things in our control – being strong operationally and delivering the best strategy.

“Fernando completed the race in P19, while Lance reported a car issue on Lap 25 and retired.

“The focus now shifts to Budapest and introducing a new package for the AMR26.”

“The Belgian Grand Prix marks the last weekend before upgrades are coming onto the cars over the next two races.

“We are leaving this event where again we can only take learnings from the situation and move on together with AMAF1.”