Fernando Alonso has admitted that Aston Martin is facing inherent limitations with its 2025 F1 challenger, the AMR25. Alonso, who secured his first points of the season with a ninth-place finish at the Spanish GP, remains realistic about the car’s shortcomings and the team’s prospects for the remainder of the campaign, including the upcoming 2025 F1 Canadian GP.
A difficult start to 2025
The two-time world champion has endured a frustrating start to his 2025 campaign, marked by three retirements in the opening eight races. Only at his home race in Barcelona did Alonso finally manage to score points, finishing ninth after a determined drive in front of an enthusiastic Spanish crowd.
Nevertheless, despite the morale-boosting result, Alonso acknowledged that Aston Martin continues to struggle with the performance of its car, particularly in straight-line speed. Speaking in Montreal ahead of the 2025 F1 Canadian GP, Alonso offered a candid assessment of the team’s current predicament.
Straight-line speed remains a key weakness
While speaking to media ahead of the 2025 F1 Canadian GP, Alonso identified aerodynamic efficiency as one of the primary culprits behind the AMR25’s lack of competitiveness, noting that the team has been forced into compromising setups in order to remain competitive in corners.
“I think it’s a combination of a few things. Probably the efficiency is not what we expected on this car,” he said. “The level of downforce we need to run sometimes is higher than what we’d love to. But to have some kind of grip in the corners, we need to sacrifice the straights. In Qualifying you open the DRS and you’re not penalised too much, but in the race we do see a bit of a handicap.”
While Aston Martin has explored potential solutions, Alonso revealed that some issues are too fundamental to resolve in-season.
“There are a couple of ideas to improve this year’s car without compromising time for next year. But yeah, there are complications in the 2025 car we’ll have to keep until the end of the year.”
Focus shifts to 2026 with Newey expected to play a central role
Although 2025 has brought frustration, there is cautious optimism within the team as it looks towards 2026 and the influence of one of Formula 1’s most revered figures. Adrian Newey, formerly Red Bull’s Chief Technical Officer, joined Aston Martin as Managing Technical Partner, and is expected to play a central role in the development of the team’s car for the new regulation cycle.
Alonso highlighted the motivational boost Newey has brought since his arrival, even though his current focus is strictly on 2026.
“A lot of the motivation we have next year is thanks to him [Newey],” Alonso said. “With all the difficulties we have this year, to have him onboard and looking at next year’s car – it gives us confidence. The expectations will be high. It will be new for everybody, so we are optimistic – but with our feet on the ground.”
Improvement required across the board
However, Alonso was quick to point out that having Newey on board will not be enough to guarantee success. He stressed that Aston Martin must use the remainder of 2025 to fine-tune internal processes and address team-wide performance gaps.
“We know how far behind we are now. Even with a regulation change, we need to find better performance with this year’s car. We need to be better as a team. Even if we have a fast car in the future, there are a couple of areas we need to keep improving. So we are trying to use 2025 to tackle all of those problems and be ready for him [Newey] as well, as a team.”
