Martin Brundle says ‘frustrated’ F1 driver has lost his ‘attacking spirit’ after Austrian Grand Prix

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The Austrian Grand Prix was full of incidents and although Max Verstappen and Lando Norris stole the headlines, there were other battles worthy of discussion.

George Russell’s second-ever Formula 1 race win came courtesy of Verstappen and Norris colliding but he also had to drive a near-perfect race to put himself in the position to capitalise.

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri may be frustrated that he wasn’t in a position to win his first F1 Grand Prix after the smallest mistake in qualifying saw his fastest lap time deleted, however, the Australian deserves credit for his overtaking manoeuvres.

Martin Brundle was commentating on the race for Sky Sports F1 and identified a driver who had a much tougher time than those running at the front of the race.

There were some brilliant results further down the standings, including a double-point finish for Haas and Nico Hulkenberg’s best result in five years.

Pierre Gasly secured his fourth points finish on the bounce while Daniel Ricciardo got the better of teammate Yuki Tsunoda during the race.

All of these results come with a caveat that Aston Martin’s performance has fallen off a cliff in recent Grand Prix.

Brundle now wonders whether their star driver Fernando Alonso has lost his attacking spirit as his car simply can’t compete in the midfield anymore.

He finished 18^th in Austria although he did pick up a consolation fastest lap after a late pit stop.

READ MORE: Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso’s life outside F1 from net worth to Cars 2

Martin Brundle thinks Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso is getting ‘frustrated’

Talking about the two-time world champion, Brundle said: “Fernando’s [Alonso] out of sorts lately, isn’t he? He’s so fed up with the way the performance has just ebbed away.

“Other teams have made their cars much faster and I don’t know, I just don’t sense that attacking spirit from him, he’s frustrated in that Aston Martin.”

Fellow commentator Harry Benjamin added: “Work harder, talk less is what Fernando Alonso said last time out in Barcelona to his Aston Martin team.”

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Aston Martin F1 Team from team principal to lineage

Aston Martin really struggling after first phase of 2024 updates

Throughout the weekend, it was clear Fernando Alonso was struggling.

Brundle earlier in the weekend suggested that the Spaniard was having a torrid time and that didn’t improve during the race.

He was caught in the middle of a tense battle between the two Alpine cars and while he was on older tyres, he was a sitting duck as he let them by, potentially hoping they could crash into each other which nearly happened.

His teammate Lance Stroll didn’t fare much better and neither driver ever looked like threatening the top ten positions.

The only upside Aston Martin have to look forward to right now is their efforts to try and sign Adrian Newey which appears to be advancing.

He’ll have his work cut out if he does arrive at their Silverstone base as every update they seem to deliver doesn’t work.

They suffered from a similar trajectory last year as Alonso was regularly on the podium at the start of 2023 but fell away during the course of the campaign.

Unfortunately, Mike Krack’s team started from a much lower base this year and so when the new parts they fit don’t work, they’re immediately in trouble.

With just a few days until the next race at the team’s home Grand Prix, it’s hard to see things improving before the British Grand Prix.