The Silverstone outfit made huge progress in 2023, with Alonso logging eight podiums, including three second places.
However, with his team-mate Lance Stroll falling well short of that strike rate, Aston only moved from seventh to fifth in the constructors' championship.
Alonso concedes that the team performed better than he'd expected in his first year, but he's adamant that making further progress won't be easy.
"The starting point is a little bit better than what I thought," said the Spaniard. "But now the real difficulty starts.
"I think the first step – I will not say that it's easy to be competitive – but I think with so many examples, like Alpine last year, is to be sometimes even in the top five or something, when we were in a happy place some weekends.
"We see AlphaTauri, how much they've improved during this season. So, let's say that that first step, to become a top 10 contender, is the easiest part.
"Now comes the tricky period for Aston Martin. I think the next two or three years – to find that extra bit, to create something that no one has in that moment, to be creative, to be innovative, I think that's maybe the biggest question mark that we need to face, and I think no one has the answer."
Source: Autosport