Alonso is once again a key player with Aston Martin, particularly in qualifying. This is partly thanks to the upgrade package introduced at Imola which, as the Spaniard confirmed, helped him rediscover a certain harmony with the AMR25 — a factor that allows him to more easily reach the car’s limit. Now, the goal is to score points in the race.
If we consider the last four race weekends, including the ongoing one in Canada, Fernando Alonso has only scored two points — during the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona, which also marked his first top 10 finish of the season.
However, the points alone don’t tell the full story. Since Imola, when Aston Martin introduced a substantial set of technical updates, the Asturian has consistently been among the main contenders — particularly in qualifying, where he has reached Q3 in all four weekends.
This is a sign of Aston Martin’s regained competitiveness, which appears to have returned since the Italian round, following a very difficult start to the season. In the first five or six rounds of the championship, the British team showed the least progress compared to 2024, partly due to development difficulties that had affected both the AMR23 and the AMR24.
Over the winter, the engineers succeeded in making the 2025 car more forgiving and manageable than its predecessors, but it was still clear that something was missing in terms of performance. In the past, whenever the team tried to add aerodynamic load or modify the car’s technical philosophy, the car would become significantly more difficult to drive and lose competitiveness.
That’s why the Imola upgrade package was so important — not just because it was the first developed using the new wind tunnel in Silverstone, a key step in verifying the correlation between new tools and on-track performance, but also because it aimed to show that the team had finally understood the right development direction in response to a complex situation.
The results, especially with Alonso, show clear progress: fifth in Imola, seventh in Monaco, tenth in Barcelona, and sixth in Montreal. Although it’s true that in both Italy and Canada he likely benefitted from the decision to use the medium compound for the flying lap — a tyre Aston Martin technicians considered more effective than the sensitive C6 — the indications from recent weekends remain encouraging.
“At Imola, we had the feeling that the C5, especially on our car, gave us the confidence to push a bit more. Then in Monaco, it was fifty-fifty. And here too, again fifty-fifty. Even after qualifying, I don’t think it’s clear yet which tyre is the best,” Alonso explained after qualifying in Montreal.
“Some teams are quicker on the soft than on the medium. But we continue to believe that, on our car, the medium is a bit more solid.” Beyond the tyre choice, it’s clear that Aston Martin is currently in a positive phase and that the upgrades have had two effects: they have improved outright performance and also allowed the Spaniard to rediscover a certain connection with the AMR25.
“I’m happy about that. It seems like now I can push the car to the limit in recent races. Since Imola, with the new package, I feel much more in tune with the car. I feel it better and can push to the maximum. And yes, I feel like I’m in a good moment. Now we just have to confirm it on Sunday,” Fernando Alonso said at the end of qualifying in Montreal.
On a track filled with slow corners and long straights, it is surprising to find the AMR25 in the top 10 on the grid, since these are not the car’s strongest characteristics. However, on a circuit featuring heavy braking zones, one particular strength of the Aston Martin has emerged compared to other midfield cars: effective braking performance, especially when the car is in a straight line.
Moreover, although Aston Martin still lacks some pure aerodynamic load — to the point that they often run higher-downforce wings than their rivals — the AMR25 still benefits from a strong DRS effect, which partially offsets the deficit on the straights.
Compared to qualifying, where fresh tyres help mask some lingering issues, the race continues to reveal challenges also seen last season, when the AMR24 was more competitive over a single lap than in race trim, where it struggled with tyre degradation.
While progress has been made in this area too, the challenge now is converting strong qualifying sessions into points finishes, particularly managing graining — the factor that caused the most trouble for the AMR25 in Imola, even before a complex strategy further compromised Aston Martin’s race.
“Usually on Sundays we struggle a bit more than on Saturdays. We have very fast cars behind us. So yes, I think we can aim for eighth or ninth place. We need points. We want to finish in the top 10 in the race, especially after Nico [Hulkenberg] scored so many points in Barcelona. Now we’re tied with Sauber, but behind them. And we want to get back ahead of them this weekend,” Alonso added.
Leave a Reply