Aston Martin were the biggest surprise of the 2023 season as they were essentially the second best team in F1 for the first 6 races after having finished 7th in 2022. Their driver Fernando Alonso picked up 6 podiums in the first 8 races. However, he hasn’t stood on the podium in the last 4 races which has not only seen Aston Martin lose 2nd in the championship to Mercedes but also being just 5 points away from losing 3rd place to Ferrari. There have been suggestions that Aston Martin could have used up a significant portion of their budget in gaining ground at the start of the season Link to poll: null 0:00 - Have Aston Martin Run Out Of Money? 1:38 - Fast Feed I'm your host Dillon Shelley and first up on Formula World: Have Aston Martin Run Out Of Money? Aston Martin’s Performance director Tom McCullough, as quoted by Motorsport, started off by confirming that they are working concurrently on this year’s as well as next year’s car “At a certain point, you have to fully focus on 2024, but we’re in the phase now where we’re able to work on both cars” “So we are bringing some steps all the way to the end of the championship, really, as much as we can do” He further highlighted the positives of this approach “Even some of the lessons you learn on ’24 you can adapt as well, whether it’s in CFD, wind tunnel, or the mechanical side” He then addressed their recent slump in form “I think we’ve understood what we’ve done to the car” “The developments that are coming in the second half of the season are already actually addressing some of the areas we’re not as strong in” He signed off by confirming that they still have room in the budget to keep developing the 2023 car “I think really from Zandvoort onwards, we’re going to have some continuous development – as we’ve done all year” “We have [the] budget to keep developing the car” “That’s our aim” Fast Feed Fernando Alonso “learned from all [his] rivals” [DAZN] “But when it comes to precision and dedication, Michael [Schumacher] was certainly an example” “Michael was just a machine” Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc stated “of course, I think every driver has considered their different options, once they get the [possibility]” [Autosport] “But I have a huge love of Ferrari. And my first target and my first dream is to become a world champion with Ferrari” “So, if there’s a slight opportunity for it to happen, I will have no doubt about pushing to stay here at least” Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton pointed out that “in the 16 years [he’s] been driving in this sport, it has only been men here. That’s a problem” [Marca] “We have not paid enough attention or given enough importance to the lack of gender diversity” Ferrari team principal Frederick Vasseur feels that they “need a drastic punishment [for budget cap violations]” [La Gazzetta dello Sport] “For 2024, a one-year exclusion or something like that” AlphaTauri’s Daniel Ricciardo doesn’t “want to get into that detail ever again” [GP Blog] “I think even through year one at McLaren at the summer break, I learned we were probably going into too much” Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg “knew it was not just going to be sunny days [when he signed with Haas]” [Motorsport] Should budget cap violations attract a one-year exclusion from the championship?