Lawrence Stroll’s 2024 target for Aston Martin identified

Lawrence Stroll’s goal for Aston Martin’s season has been shared by his team principal.

Aston Martin finished fifth in the F1 constructors’ championship last season, and their drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll came fourth and 10th in the drivers’ standings.

But the billionaire expects better in 2024.

Team principal Mike Krack said about the owner’s ambition to Sky: “We share the same target, the same ultimate target.

“For ‘24 we set the target to close the gap to the car in front further.

“If we decrease this gap we can continue to fight for points, podiums and maybe our first win.”

Krack said about the development of this year’s car: “It has been a short winter this time.

“But it’s also the first time that we’ve made a car out of our new technology campus.

“We have taken a good step with the AMR24, it is a strong evolution of the AMR23.”

Alonso, asked if he hoped for a major step forward, said: “I wish. I wish we had a strong winter. We will find out in Bahrain.

“The car looks great, an evolution from last year, a good base-line.

“Everyone will be strong this year, the field will be tight.

“The team has to grow up in many areas. The spirit in the team, the motivation, the targets needs to raise every year.

“If we want to be a top team, a top contender, we need to see change every year towards that.

“The attitude, the targets, goals need to be more ambitious [than the previous year].”

Alonso added about the team's 2024: "There is too much speculation until we put the cars on track.

"It will be tight at the front. Red Bull hopefully won’t have the advantage that they showed last year.

"We have Ferrari with Charles and Carlos, Mercedes with George and Lewis. They will want to fight for the eighth [title for Hamilton] before they split.

"It’s going to be tight, two or three tenths you can fight for a podium or outside of the top 10."

Can Aston Martin win a grand prix?

"I hope so," Alonso said. "That’s the aim. We have to be optimistic in this part of the year. We have to be regular in podiums, as we were last year."

Last season Aston Martin stunned at the season-opener in Bahrain, with Alonso finishing on the podium.

Alonso completed six podium finishes in the first eight rounds, during Aston Martin’s best period of last year.

But they dropped off later in the season as Mercedes and McLaren overtook, and Ferrari became the only team apart from Red Bull to win a grand prix.