Alonso coy over Aston Martin as F1 slump worsens

Fernando Alonso has remained coy over Aston Martin's problems as the team continues to struggle in Formula 1.

Alonso's poor run of form continued in the Austrian Grand Prix, being out-performed by team-mate Lance Stroll and then ramming Zhou Guanyu after a misjudgement at Turn 3 under braking. 

He banked the fastest lap at the end of the race after a late pit-stop, but Alonso has grown increasingly frustrated at the drop in performance from Aston Martin - which was challenging Red Bull as the second-fastest team 12 months ago. 

The upgrade stream from the team has not delivered boosts in performance, with Alonso keeping his own cards close to his chest, a week after telling the team to "talk less" after another poor showing in the Spanish GP. 

"It is a question for them, they have the press conference, so they will talk," Alonso told media including RacingNews365, refering to team principal Mike Krack and engineering chief Tom McCullough.

He was then asked for his perception on Aston's struggles, replying that: "I don't know, I drive the car.

"I have a very clear feeling, and we need to get better for the next race and about the details, there is a very clear answer. Let's try and get better for Silverstone."

Alonso owns up

Addressing the uncharacteristic mistake of ramming Zhou, Alonso admitted to simply making an error at being caught out on Lap 20 as the Stake driver battled Daniel Ricciardo, earning a 10-second time penalty.

"I made that mistake, I didn't expect to lock up and when you lock it, it feels like you go on the throttle because the car doesn't have any more retardation," he said.

"They braked extremely early, and I think they were both trying to maybe play the DRS [chicken], but it was my fault, my mistake."