Aston Martin heads into Saturday’s Qualifying at the 2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix facing an uphill battle after a challenging opening day in Jeddah. Both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll admitted that, despite completing some clean laps in Friday’s Free Practice sessions, the team struggled to match the pace of midfield rivals Williams and Alpine.
Despite this, both Alonso and Stroll acknowledged that the team could turn their weekend around if Aston Martin could use the data collected on Friday to improve the AMR25. Both stressed the importance of overnight improvements, especially as Aston Martin hopes to recover from their poor outings in Suzuka and Sakhir.
Alonso hoping that Friday findings can help improve AMR25
Speaking to the media after FP2, Alonso said that although he and teammate Lance Stroll managed to complete some “clean laps,” Aston Martin still struggled for pace compared to their midfield rivals, particularly Williams Racing and Alpine.
“Yeah, I think we did some clean laps today and the pace is still a little behind where we want it to be.”
Despite the challenges, Alonso called the opening day at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit productive, highlighting that he and his teammate gathered valuable data to help improve the AMR25. These improvements, Alonso hopes, can help the team make more regular appearances in the top 10, and more importantly, help them score the vital points needed for their fight in the Constructors’ Championship.
“There are a couple of tests that we went through today so let’s try to get the data also between the two cars and put the best package tomorrow and hopefully get closer to that top 10 that is obviously the target.”
Alonso hoping to regain his confidence around the Jeddah Corniche Circuit
Despite the limitations of the AMR25 and Alonso’s own poor form in the opening races of the 2025 season, the F1 veteran, who finished P3 and P5 in the 2023 and 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix respectively, believes that can fight for his first points of the season in Jeddah
“Yeah, I think so,” Alonso replied when asked if his experience could help him chase performance at the 2025 F1 Saudi Arabian GP.
He explained that he had always felt comfortable at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, and while he acknowledged that both he and Stroll had struggled with grip, especially in higher-speed corners, he stated that regaining confidence in their ability to “attack the corners” could help the team’s Qualifying performance.
“You know it has been always very friendly to me in terms of results at Jeddah and I feel always comfortable here.”
“As I said today, we may have the car in the right window. We struggled with the front grip in the medium and high speed corners which in Jeddah, obviously, it takes you a lot of confidence to attack the corners and yeah we need to regain that confidence into tomorrow.”
Traffic a potential threat to Aston Martin’s Qualifying ambitions at the 2025 Saudi Arabian GP
However, traffic could pose an threat to the Spaniard’s qualifying ambitions. Alonso complained about traffic during FP2, noting that the crowded track had disrupted his first attempt at a fast lap. Although he eventually put in a clean lap, he stressed that drivers would need some luck to successfully navigate the track during the first Qualifying session, Q1.
“It was difficult, it was unlucky on the first lap. But yeah, I had a second attempt and that one was clean so let’s see tomorrow. I think in Qualifying, especially Q1, you have a little bit of traffic around and you need to be lucky. But I think it’s much better managed normally in Qualifying than Practices.”
“So let’s hope for a clean Quali,” he concluded.
Stroll aiming to improve for Saturday’s Qualifying after tricky Friday in Jeddah
Lance Stroll echoed his teammate’s views on Aston Martin’s performance on the opening day of the 2025 Saudi Arabian GP. While speaking to the media after FP2, Stroll stated that Aston Martin had lack competitiveness against their rivals, and needed to improve ahead of Saturday’s Qualifying session.
“It was not the most competitive day for sure,” Stroll replied, when asked if Aston Martin’s performance in FP1 and FP2 at the Saudi Arabian GP were representative of the team’s overall competitiveness.
“We’ll see what we can work on tonight, improve for tomorrow, and go from there.”
When asked about a Turn 1 incident with Williams’ Carlos Sainz, Stoll explained that he had suffered a rear lock-up and lost the car. He emphasised that this showed the trick conditions on-track at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
“Yeah, just a big rear lock and I lost it,” Stroll summarised, on his incident with Sainz.
“It’s tricky out there for sure. Like I said, we’ll see what we can work on and improve for tomorrow.”
With the Silverstone-based team lacking the apparent pace of their midfield rivals, especially the likes of Alpine and Williams, Stroll, like his teammate Alonso, understand that Aston Martin face a monumental challenge in Saturday’s Qualifying. However, while he admitted that Aston Martin had not looked competitive in either FP1 or FP2, he stated that they would need to see what was possible after assessing their findings from Friday.
“It’s going to be a tough mission, for sure. We didn’t look great today, but we’ll see what we can do tomorrow.”
