Fernando Alonso says it is clear that Aston Martin needs to get better at in-season car developments.
The Spaniard has almost single-handedly propelled the vastly improved team to third overall in the constructors' championship.
He is almost 100 points ahead of the team owner's son Lance Stroll, meaning that if his teammate had been even close to as competitive, Aston Martin would only be trailing Red Bull.
Stroll denies that he has become ballast for the Silverstone based team.
"First of all, I couldn't do pre-season testing because of my broken wrist," the Canadian told RTBF at the Hungaroring. "I've also had a lot of bad luck.
"I was fourth in Jeddah before I had a problem. In Miami we had problems in qualifying, the same in Monaco. We had bad luck with the strategy in Canada and Silverstone.
"It's difficult to judge these things in terms of points," Stroll insisted.
"Alonso is a little faster at the moment," the 24-year-old admitted. "I have to improve on certain points to try to be stronger in the second part of the season."
However, Alonso believes Aston Martin also have some improving to do, with the 2023 car having entered a slump that the 41-year-old believes could be related to the Pirelli compound change at Silverstone.
"But we have to improve. We haven't brought too many improvements throughout the championship," the Spaniard admitted.
"Now that all the teams publish what's new, it's easy to go back and see all the documents and you can see what teams brought the least. We are among the he least and we have to grow as a team, not only on the track, also in the factory and in the rhythm of the developments."
Alonso, though, isn't getting too down about Aston Martin's mid-season slump.
"It doesn't bother me at all because this year everything that's happening is a gift," he said. "Years ago, I dreamed of making a podium and we've had six podiums in ten races and I'm third in the world championship.
"We've also been thinking about 2024 for several months now. I remember in Barcelona everyone asked me why I didn't attack Stroll but I didn't care.
"Because this year I already know I'm going to finish third, fourth or fifth. So I don't care. It's more important to start 2024 well. So if the tyres have changed this year it's fine because it's good to try to get to know them better for next year.
"If they've been bad for us and good for other teams, we have to understand what they do to have that advantage for us too," said Alonso.
