The Aston Martin AMR25 remains, in many respects, an extreme Formula 1 car — not necessarily in outright performance, but in its character. To be competitive, it must take advantage of circuits where higher downforce levels can offset the car’s lack of floor-generated grip, as seen in Singapore. Another key factor behind the strong weekend was Fernando Alonso’s trademark aggression.
The AMR25 continues to perform at two different speeds — almost literally. The team’s up-and-down 2025 season perfectly illustrates a car built on extremes: it has strong points, but also major weaknesses. This duality has roots in past designs, yet this year it has become even more visible.
As noted after the Hungarian Grand Prix, slow and high-downforce circuits — where Aston Martin tends to perform best — also expose the AMR25’s greatest limitation: its lack of aerodynamic load. Unlike recent tracks favoring low-drag setups, Singapore presented the opposite scenario, highlighting this weakness even more clearly.
Without introducing any new components, Aston Martin still managed to reassert itself at Marina Bay as the fastest car in the midfield, once again showcasing the extreme traits the team has learned to live with. It’s no secret that last year’s AMR24 was a difficult and nervous car to drive, further complicated by a technical design that required two different floors depending on the track layout.
That is why, with the 2025 car, Aston Martin took a step back in design philosophy — aiming for a more manageable and stable car, even at the cost of peak downforce. The change has helped the drivers, but it has also exposed a significant lack of floor-generated grip compared to rivals. As a result, the team is forced to extract downforce primarily from the wings, paying a high price in straight-line speed.
The more loaded the wing, the greater the drag it produces — meaning reduced aerodynamic efficiency and slower top speeds. Ahead of the Singapore weekend, Team Principal Andy Cowell highlighted this trade-off: “I think that’s an accurate description of the car. The characteristics of this year’s AMR25 come from past projects, and we haven’t invested a huge amount of new resources into it.”
In essence, when Aston Martin can afford to run high-downforce setups on circuits like Budapest or Marina Bay — where aerodynamic efficiency is less critical due to short straights and the need for maximum grip — the AMR25 can shine, allowing the team to fight at the front of the midfield pack.
One of the main goals during the winter was to improve front-end load to reduce the chronic understeer that had plagued last year’s car through slow corners. This development path has continued in 2025, with new front-end solutions introduced — including updates in Hungary — aimed at improving steering precision and overall balance.
The progress was evident in Singapore, thanks also to two decisive factors: Fernando Alonso’s performance and the team’s smart race-day strategy. The Spaniard, with his usual determination and speed, once again extracted the maximum potential from the car, both in qualifying and in the race. Meanwhile, Lance Stroll was less fortunate, eliminated in Q1 and forced into a recovery drive from the back.
It was, however, a missed opportunity. Singapore was one of the few remaining weekends where the AMR25 could genuinely fight for the title of “best of the rest.” There may still be circuits favorable to Aston Martin later this year, but none are likely to offer the same potential.
Another winning decision came from the choice to start on the soft tires. It was a bold move considering Alonso was starting from the dirty side of the grid. Except for Max Verstappen — also on the soft compound — all the drivers ahead of Alonso lost at least one position off the line. The actual advantage of the soft was minimal, roughly two meters, but on such a dusty track, the goal was not necessarily to gain places but to defend grid position at the start.
“I think starting on the softs was the right call,” explained Team Principal Andy Cowell. “It was a great job by the team to prepare that option and know how to extend the stint. The concern was that if you start on softs, you might be forced to pit early, and then a Safety Car could arrive ten laps later — so you have to be ready to go long, and that’s exactly what Lance was trying to do.”
“I think the engineers studying tire behavior did an excellent job, and the setup was strong. We disappointed Fernando during the pit stop, but he recovered brilliantly, didn’t he? It was great to watch — no Safety Car, but plenty of overtakes. Who would have thought that here?”
Indeed, despite a slow pit stop, Fernando Alonso put on a show. He pulled off several bold overtakes, including a daring move into Turn 13 — on the limit, catching his rival by surprise on a circuit where passing is notoriously difficult. It was a true “Alonso show,” reflected even in his fiery team radio messages, mixed with frustration over the pit stop error that could have cost him more.
This was not the first time Aston Martin has stumbled with strategy or pit stop mistakes, with direct consequences for Alonso’s race results. Naturally, with every setback, the Spaniard’s frustration grows, often exploding in heated team radio exchanges. On a weekend that played to the AMR25’s strengths, it took the very best of Fernando Alonso to showcase what remains an inherently extreme but fascinating car.
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