Fernando Alonso adopts new approach as Aston Martin looks to 2026. Fernando Alonso urges Aston Martin to treat the final six races of 2025 as a testing ground for 2026.

Fernando Alonso is calling on Aston Martin to treat the final six races of the 2025 season as a testing ground for the future. With the team no longer in contention for podiums and the major 2026 regulation changes approaching, the Spanish driver is proposing a strategic approach: testing technical solutions, optimizing the car setup, and managing energy to arrive fully prepared for the new era of Formula 1. While Lance Stroll remains cautious about prospects at the Circuit of the Americas, Alonso is focused on experimentation and sprint races to relaunch the Aston Martin project.

Aston Martin’s 2025 season

So far, Aston Martin has endured a disappointing season, failing to reach the podium for the second consecutive year. With 68 points, the team is fighting for sixth place in the Constructors’ Championship, with Racing Bulls and Sauber as main rivals at 72 and 55 points, respectively. However, Alonso sees this battle as secondary, believing that Aston Martin should focus on experimenting and executing flawlessly in the final six rounds, while also saving energy ahead of the new F1 era, with updated chassis and engine regulations that the team has high hopes for.

“During the race weekends, we still have to give our best. We must stay motivated. We need to improve certain operational aspects that will be important next year. So, in a sense, we should treat these six races as a test. Of course, we also need to keep an eye on next year’s calendar and save some energy. Even though we are racing at full throttle and traveling extensively over the next two months, we also need to rest a bit in advance, now that the season is ending, so we can start January with fully charged batteries,” Alonso explained.

Stroll and Alonso on Austin

Aston Martin returned to scoring points in Singapore after struggling on the long straights of Monza and Baku. But what can the team hope for at the Circuit of the Americas, with its high-speed corners? When asked, Lance Stroll answered nonchalantly:

“I don’t know, we’ll see. Tracks with lower downforce are more challenging for us. With higher downforce, the car comes alive a bit more.”

Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso was more reflective:

“We’ve had some difficulties here over the past two years: even when the car was working well in 2023, we struggled on this circuit. We need to do something different compared to the last two events here to really score points. At the same time, we come from Singapore, where we maintained a strong pace. It’s a sprint weekend, which I usually think is an advantage for us.”

Fernando Alonso’s viewpoint is entirely reasonable when considering Aston Martin’s performance under this regulation, aside from a brief improvement until mid-2023.