Aston Martin dismiss Alonso 'easy excuse' over slump

Aston Martin Team Principal Mike Krack has dismissed Fernando Alonso's claims that a change in the construction of Pirelli's tyres is behind the team's slump in form as an "easy excuse". F1's tyre manufacturer introduced a new construction at the British Grand Prix to quash safety concerns after teams reached downforce levels previously predicted for the end of the season. Aston Martin started the season as the second-fastest team behind Red Bull but since Silverstone, Alonso and teammate Lance Stroll have found themselves fighting with Ferrari for fourth-quickest - falling behind Mercedes and McLaren. Two-time champion Alonso suggested at the Hungarian Grand Prix that the new tyre construction had treated the Silverstone-based outfit and Red Bull adversely. Speaking to media including RacingNews365 before the Belgian Grand Prix weekend, Krack conceded: "That would be an easy excuse. "We see there is a little difference with these tyres but they were brought for safety and so from that point of view, everybody has to run them and are the same for everybody. "We should not use this as an excuse for competitiveness because they are the same tyres we have to use going forward. "It's about learning as much as possible about them and moving on. It would be too easy to say it is the tyres."

Different situation

The Hungaroring was targeted by Alonso as one of three events Aston Martin could secure victory at due to its characteristics, following his second at the Monaco Grand Prix. But the AMR23s finished ninth and 10th last weekend and asked why there was such disparity between Alonso's forecast and the final finishing position, Krack explained: "At the time Fernando was saying that, the situation was different in terms of competitiveness. "In the meantime, other teams have caught up and brought performance to their cars, which we didn't manage. "That is the main why we fell back and why we were slower than we were hoping we were."