Fernando Alonso is preparing for yet another difficult season, as Aston Martin faces a tough climb in 2025.
The veteran driver’s early expectations for 2025 carry a subtle but significant glimpse at Aston Martin’s tough journey for 2025. Throughout pre-season testing last week in Bahrain, the AMR25 failed to meet the benchmark set by its rivals, Williams and Alpine.
This is a testament to how Formula 1 has changed over the last season, as the field has grown increasingly more competitive.
Whilst the grid may be highly competitive coming into the season opener in Australia, Fernando Alonso believes F1 fans and pundits alike not to be expecting his team to come out firing in the first four races.
“I guess…it’s difficult to believe that things will change so much compared to Abu Dhabi,” Alonso stated. “So the first four races, I think that things will look similar to Abu Dhabi.”
This is uncharacteristic for the British team, as for the past two seasons, they have started the season strong and then dropped off during the development stages of the season. However, this could be a sign the team is changing to have a greater focus on developing a competitive car throughout the entire season, not just in the beginning.
The approach for Aston Martin in 2025
For now, Aston Martin has focused on its short-term ambitions. Trying to develop a more balanced and responsive car than the previous seasons. The AMR25 initially looked promising in testing, demonstrating improved predictability and consistency. These are traits that were evident through the start of their success in 2023. However, as testing continued, it was evident that Aston was not as close to their midfield rivals as many expected.
Issues such as rear instability began to creep up on the team, raising concerns for their upcoming season. Alonso himself noted that his most representative laps in testing were completed during less-than-ideal track conditions, which may have exaggerated some of the car’s handling challenges.
Despite all this, the two-time world champion has remained calm and collected ahead of the season beginning.
“The car itself is basically the 2024 car, only the outside and all the aerodynamic parts that did change a lot for performance,” Alonso emphasised.
“But let’s say the engines, radiators, driveshafts, suspension, everything is the same as 2024. We don’t need the normal race distances and so many laps like we will need next year, probably, when it’s crucial to test the reliability.”
These comments suggest while Aston Martin had made improvements to their 2025 challenger, they are content knowing they are in the midfield pack.
“We are relatively happy, knowing it’s extremely tight in the midfield and we will have to do perfect weekends if we want to score points.”
Alonso remains optimistic about the future of the season. Emphasising that the midfield is likely to be competitive from Australia all the way until Abu Dhabi.
With the ever-talented Adrian Newey starting his Aston Martin journey, the potential for mid-season upgrades to improve Aston Martin’s competitiveness is extremely high.
Feature Image Credit Aston Martin F1 Media Pool
