It has been a mixed season for some teams in Formula 1, with some failing to replicate the form they showed last year.
Red Bull was the standout, having dropped back significantly after the RB20 proved to be a difficult package to get into the right window of performance.
Mercedes also had swings in performance throughout the season, having dominated the middle part of the season but then struggled at the end.
Alpine started off the season with the slowest package, owing to them failing a crash test in pre-season, but worked hard to improve their fortunes and managed to finish sixth after Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon achieved a double podium in Brazil.
When asked who he thinks is the most disappointing team of 2024 on the Sky Sports F1 podcast, Karun Chandhok has explained why there is one team that stands out above the rest for their ‘bizarre’ form.
Karun Chandhok explains why Aston Martin is the ‘most disappointing’ of the season
Fernando Alonso achieved eight podiums last year, which was the most amount of podiums for a non-Red Bull driver, and it was expected to be another strong year for the Silverstone-based squad.
In stark contrast, this year the Spaniard scored 70 of only 94 points amassed by Aston Martin. The team finished fifth overall in the Constructors’ Championship, over 300 points behind rivals Mercedes.
Aston Martin struggled constantly with car problems, with engineers effectively using the final races of the season as test sessions. Chandhok has named them the most disappointing team of the year.
“Aston Martin because they were the feel-good story of last year with Alonso. It was bizarre, looking back at the season Fernando qualified fourth in Saudi Arabia,” said Chandhok.
“They weren’t so bad at the start of the season and then they were just in no man’s land. They were nowhere close to the top four teams and kind of ahead the rest of the pack in terms of Constructors’ but not in terms of pace because they dropped behind Haas and Alpine.”
Aston Martin’s fortunes to improve from 2026
Next year is likely to be more of the same for Aston Martin, as they shift their focus to F1’s big changes for the 2026 season.
One of the season’s biggest stories was Aston Martin managed to poach Adrian Newey after the legendary designer called time on his career at Red Bull midway through the year.
READ MORE: Eddie Jordan thinks Adrian Newey will already be excited to work with one ‘genius’ at Aston Martin
Alonso said Newey will bring his ‘magic’ and ‘priceless’ skills to Aston Martin next year, as he joins a list of engineering talent that has been brought from other teams including Loic Sierra from Mercedes and Enrico Cardile from Ferrari after talks with billionaire owner Lawrence Stroll.
Aston Martin will be using Honda power units from 2026, in what is likely to be one of the most competitive packages.
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