14 March 2024 , 06:00
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A former Red Bull employee has backed Fernando Alonso to take the fight to the Formula 1 champions this season - with the help of one of their old secret weapons.
At times in 2023, Aston Martin were the main challengers to Red Bull. In the early rounds especially, Alonso made a lightning start to the latest chapter of his F1 career and was the chief threat to Max Verstappen.
As the season went on, though, the Silverstone-based team lost the development battle against their main rivals. And their pace on track suffered as a result, limiting the Spaniard's opportunities to fight at the sharp end of the grid.
"It's interesting that we quite often see a team start the year strongly and then fall away," former Red Bull marketing guru Mark Gallagher told Mirror Sport, via Betway.
"The original concept of that car worked ever so well but what didn't work well for them was then the mid-season development battle, particular when we saw McLaren and Mercedes break through their upgrades through to June and July.
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"Aston Martin's year in 2023 was not only marked by their difficulties in the development side of things but that two of their competitors made great strides. There was an important change in the tyre construction which was brought in July and Fernando Alonso did comment that it had an effect on them more than others.
"I'm a great believer that the four black rubber things that connect the car has such an impact of performance these days so even an incremental change can have a profound effect. I think Aston Martin may have suffered from that."
Aston Martin will hope to avoid a repeat this season. They have not repeated the lighting start that they managed in 2023, but are still competing in and around the top teams and plan to solidify their place as the campaign progresses. But Gallagher believes they can achieve more than that using former Red Bull aerodynamicist Dan Fallows.
He has backed the 50-year-old to provide Alonso with a car capable of giving Verstappen something to worry about, adding: "Dan Fallows, who had gone from Aston Martin from Red Bull, and is a brilliant designer in his own right, I have confidence that he will get things right and will have learned from last year.
"It would be great if Fernando Alonso can score podiums this year and take the fight to Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari because there isn't a better guy to do that, and it is fantastic to see him as enthusiastic as he is about Formula 1 at 42 years of age."