Fernando Alonso has identified Aston Martin’s gearbox as “fix number one” for Canada as the team’s difficult season continues.

Any positives from Aston’s Miami Grand Prix came via reliability rather than performance as both drivers finished a grand prix for the first time this season.

Fernando Alonso labels gearbox Aston Martin’s ‘fix number one’

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Alonso qualified 17th, his joint best of the season, and finished a season-best P15 in Miami, but more than his position, what gave him the most encouragement was a reduction in the vibrations from the Honda power unit that plagued Aston’s first three races.

Now, attention can turn elsewhere, and Alonso suggested that with Canada next, a circuit that forces heavy braking, resolving its gearbox issues should be Aston Martin’s next focus.

“No issues,” he said of the first of three American races this season. “Honestly, it was more the gearbox the whole weekend than the engine, so I don’t know the electronics or something.

“It was very weird on the downshifts and the upshifts, so not very well in control.

“So that’s the fix number one for Canada. I think with all these heavy braking in Canada, we need to improve the gearbox behaviour at the moment.”

Alonso did though, again pour cold water on any notion that Aston Martin could soon move up the finishing order, suggesting that it would not be until after the summer break that fans could expect anything more than a couple of tenths of improvement.

“I think we will make a step on that drivability point of view,” he said. “Performance, not. So, we need to stick together with the team.

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“Now it’s going to be very tough races. It’s going to feel repetitive. Obviously, we need to face the media every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

“You do your job, and we drive fast, but seems repetitive, the message. We have no upgrades until after summer.

“So we don’t need to come to Canada and [asked] what to expect in Canada, the same. What to expect in Austria, the same.

“So that’s the thing that we need to manage, that frustration level from everybody in the team, but I think we are all relaxed. We are all committed to after summer, having a better second half of the year. And let’s see if we can do that.

“I’m at peace, because I understand the situation. The team is claiming that if we bring one or two tenths every race, it doesn’t change our position. We are P20 or P19, and the next car is one second in front. So even if we bring two tenths every race, it doesn’t change our position.

“And it’s a huge stress in the system, in the budget cap and things like that. So [if] we don’t have one second and a half or two second improvement, it’s better not to press the button into production, because we waste money.”

Aston Martin is one of only two teams along with Cadillac yet to score a point this season.

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