Pedro De La Rosa admits Aston Martin were slower in one key area in testing

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Aston Martin ambassador Pedro De La Rosa has admitted that the 2024 Aston Martin is slower in one area after pre-season testing ended in Bahrain.

Every team on the grid arrived at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir with heavily updated cars from last season.

Speaking to MARCA, Pedro De La Rosa shared what developments his team has made and how they’ve taken one step back in one area to improve their overall performance.

De La Rosa on where Aston Martin were slower in pre-season testing

After three intense days of running in Bahrain before Saturday’s first Grand Prix, every team in the paddock will have a decent idea of where they sit in the pecking order.

They may not have shared their full potential last week, but unless someone was seriously sandbagging, they’re unlikely to catch Red Bull any time soon.

Aston Martin kicked on in 2023, overtaking Alpine and Alfa Romeo in the Constructors’ Championship to finish fifth.

The introduction of Fernando Alonso made a huge difference after he secured eight podium finishes.

However, Pedro De La Rosa admits Aston Martin were slightly slower in one part of the track during Bahrain testing.

He doesn’t want to compare his team to the rest of the grid as it’s very difficult to know what fuel levels everyone else is running among other factors.

They will have three more practice sessions starting on Thursday to iron out any issues before the first qualifying session of the year.

Aston Martin still working on the optimum set-up

Speaking after pre-season testing, De La Rosa said: “It’s true that in the second sector (the slower corners at Sakhir) we are losing more, but we don’t have a clear picture at the moment either.

“There are people with the C4 (the Ferraris). Also, here the tyre preparation can play an important role and if you have a tyre that is more ready in the first sector and less ready in the second sector, then the tyre is not the same.”

Aston Martin will hope they can iron out the issues that De La Rosa talked about and that even though they were slightly slower in testing in the second sector, they looked very good in other areas of the track.

With Fernando Alonso in the car, you know he will extract every bit of pace he possibly can.

Lance Stroll will be keen to kick on in 2024 too and attempt to match his teammate’s points tally after falling well behind the Spaniard last year.

There is plenty of reason to be optimistic if you’re an Aston Martin fan.

However, it’s unlikely they’re going to be the best of the rest behind Red Bull like they were this time last year.