Fernando Alonso will have to wait until Imola, in two month’s time, for a significant upgrade to his 2024 Aston Martin car.
After Jeddah, and amid rumours linking the Spanish driver with Mercedes for 2025, both Alonso and his long-time colleague Pedro de la Rosa urged Aston Martin to improve the car at every single grand prix this year.
"The team’s objective is not to race with the same car for two races in a row," de la Rosa, officially a team ambassador, told DAZN. "There is no improvement plan for Australia, but they are in the oven."
However, it now emerges that the next major upgrade will also not be ready for the subsequent overseas races in Japan, China and Miami.
"We really want to keep developing this car continuously, without waiting too long," team boss Mike Krack is quoted as saying by Spanish newspapers.
"So over the course of the next events there will be changes, starting in Imola," he announced.
The race in Imola - the first in Europe this season - is not scheduled until mid May. But by then, Alonso will be under pressure to let Aston Martin know if he is staying for 2025.
"It is not a secret that he wants to be the one who decides his future," Krack admitted, "and it is not a secret that we want to continue working with Fernando.
"But the important thing is that we give him a fast car so that he believes in the team and the project, because it is normal for a driver like him to be attractive to all teams," he said.
"Everything else will be discussions for the coming weeks," added Krack, "but we will try to keep him. He is not just a talent because of his driving and skill, which is indisputable. But he brings something extra to the team to push and motivate everyone and to lead by example.
"From the first to the last minute he is exemplary and that carries over to the rest of the team, and that is why it is something that we want to preserve."
Krack also insisted that no one - including Alonso - should be making premature judgements about Aston Martin’s new car for 2024 quite yet.
"It is a good base but we have only seen it in the tests and two grands prix that have also been at night," he said. "There is a lot of learning ahead."
As far as former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher is concerned, however, two-time Alonso should actually be ending his career at 42 rather than signing significant new contracts.
"Let’s see if this vicious circle can be broken so that young drivers have a chance again," he is quoted by Marca sports newspaper.
"Alonso is 42 years old and still active. I have nothing against Fernando, but the objective of F1 is not to have an increasingly older grid."