Aston Martin does not understand lack of pace in Austin

Having been unable to challenge for points, Aston Martin drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll have acknowledged that the Silverstone-based outfit currently lacks the necessary speed to fight for point-scoring places.

Aston Martin endured a very difficult race weekend last time out in Austin. The team struggled for pace in qualifying, and things did not get any better in the race where Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll were forced to defend rather than to attack.

The two-time world champion finished the race in P13 while his Canadian team-mate ended up two spots further down the order to bring the difficult weekend in Texas to an end.

"It was a tough race for us today and we dropped back a few places from our starting position. I think we outperformed the car’s natural position in Qualifying and we knew it would be an uphill battle to stay inside the top ten.

Pushed on to comment on Aston Martin's showing in Austin, Alonso noted: "It’s been a difficult weekend and we have lots to analyse over the next few days to get better for Mexico."

His team-mate Lance Stroll reported on the same issue, claiming that their car currently lacks outright pace which was even more of the case at the Circuit of the Americas.

"We lacked pace compared to the other cars today. I had a bit of messy restart with a snap at Turn 10 but I think that, even without that snap, the result would have been the same.

"The car didn’t have the performance for us to fight for positions. We’ve still got work ahead us to improve this car and we’ll be pushing hard to make that happen."

Aston Martin team boss Mike Krack labelled the Silverstone-based outfit's day in Texas as difficult and disappointing, but he hopes that the team will be able to recover for this weekend's Mexico race.

"A very difficult race day. It is really disappointing to come away from the weekend without any points. The midfield is incredibly tight and we were on the wrong side of the competition.

"We just didn’t have any pace all weekend. We have to learn from days like today, redouble our efforts and put actions in place ahead of next weekend in Mexico,' he said.