Point-less Aston Martin “expected a strong weekend in Singapore” – Alonso

Fernando Alonso says Aston Martin fell short of their expectations in the Singapore Grand Prix.

The two-times world champion finished 15th after losing 25 seconds with a slow pit stop, which dropped him out of the points with 17 laps remaining.

Part of the time loss was due to Alonso serving a five-second penalty for crossing the line at pit entry. However he lost more time when the team's rear jack failed to engage properly.

Considering Aston Martin's strong form at street tracks earlier this year – having finished on the podium at each of them before Singapore – the team hoped for a strong performance on Sunday. But several factors left them out of the points.

"I think we all expected a strong weekend in Singapore, it was not the case," said Alonso, whose team mate Lance Stroll did not race after suffering a heavy crash in qualifying.

"We didn't have the pace that we were hoping for. Too many things [went wrong]: a mistake going into the pit lane, a sloppy stop, traffic all in one race. So a race to forget."

Alonso called his car "undriveable" at one stage during the race as its handling deteriorated on worn tyres.

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"We need to look at it because the car was very difficult to drive, very little rear end from the car," he said.

"We killed the tyres very quickly after the pit stop, so it was a tough race. We need to look at the details, obviously we don't have the answers yet but we need to get better for Japan."

The race began promisingly for Alonso as he ran inside the points. However he struggled for pace following his pit stop during the lap 21 Safety Car period.

His team principal Mike Krack said they need to get to the bottom of the problems they encountered at a track they expected would suit them. "On the medium everything ran pretty solid," he said. "After the Safety Car we fitted the hard tyres and we struggled a bit more, we need to understand why.

"When the virtual [Safety Car] came, we were not sure that we could go the full distance with a decent level of performance."

Aston Martin's form has tailed off with just one podium since Canada in June, after six top three finishes in the opening eighth grands prix. But Krack believes there is no reason for concern.

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"We have also had a couple of good ones," he said. "I think over a season with 23 races, and generally in sports you have ups and downs that's normal.

"So we have to learn our lessons from this weekend, take the positives and move to Japan as quick as possible."

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2023 Singapore Grand Prix

• Point-less Aston Martin "expected a strong weekend in Singapore" – Alonso
• Sainz: 'Risky' Norris DRS tactic 'could have looked really bad on me'
• Mercedes "could have finished first and second", admits Wolff
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