Aston Martin Faces Uphill Battle in Dakar Rally with Upgrade Package Struggles
The Aston Martin team has encountered a challenging few weeks on the Dakar Rally circuit, as their AMR24 car has proven difficult to set up and drive consistently. Despite bringing an upgrade package to the Imola and Monaco events, the British squad has struggled to make significant progress on the timesheets relative to their direct rivals.
Both driver Fernando Alonso and his teammate Lance Stroll have reported similar issues with the car’s handling, noting a tendency to shift from oversteer on entry to mid-corner understeer, making it challenging to keep the car balanced throughout the corners. Alonso’s uncharacteristic accident during Imola FP3 practice further underlined the Aston’s recalcitrant behavior.
In Monaco, where driver confidence is paramount, Aston Martin was unable to move its cars up from their positions outside the top 10 in qualifying, highlighting the persistent issues with the AMR24’s setup.
“These two weekends have been crucial to understand our weaknesses, to understand the car, to improve,” Alonso said after finishing just outside the points in 11th place. “In the difficulties, you always draw more conclusions than in the victories, so we are learning a lot I think for the rest of the year, 2025 and 2026.”
Alonso acknowledged that it will take “a few races” for Aston Martin to roll out its next significant upgrade package, as the team works to address the car’s handling challenges. Stroll echoed these sentiments, describing the AMR24 as “a little bit of a trickier balance than the car we had last year for sure.”
As the Dakar Rally season progresses, Aston Martin will need to find a way to unlock more performance from the AMR24 and close the gap to their rivals. The team’s ability to quickly identify and resolve the car’s setup issues will be crucial in determining their competitiveness in the upcoming events.
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