After a challenging start to the weekend, Saturday at the 2025 Hungarian Grand Prix brought a much-needed positive note for two-time Formula 1 World Champion Fernando Alonso. The experienced Spanish driver managed to secure an impressive fifth-place result in the qualifying session at the Hungaroring, putting Aston Martin in a strong position ahead of Sunday’s race.
Earlier in the weekend, things looked uncertain for Fernando Alonso. The 43-year-old veteran had been forced to skip the first Free Practice session (FP1) on Friday due to a muscular injury affecting his back. In his absence, reserve driver Felipe Drugovich stepped in and completed the session, finishing in 16th place on the timesheets. Meanwhile, Alonso’s teammate Lance Stroll managed to break into the top 10, providing encouraging early signs for the team based in Silverstone.
Despite the missed session, Aston Martin seemed confident about the potential of the AMR25 based on the data collected by both Drugovich and Stroll. The early analysis already hinted at a competitive weekend, and those signs were confirmed when Fernando Alonso returned to the cockpit for Free Practice 2 (FP2), where he posted the fifth-fastest time.
Continuing to build momentum, Alonso finished sixth in the final Free Practice session (FP3) and then delivered another strong performance during Saturday’s qualifying. The Spanish driver matched his FP2 result by securing fifth place on the grid, thanks to a remarkable final lap in Q3 that cemented Aston Martin’s best Saturday result in several races.
Lance Stroll also impressed, qualifying just behind his teammate in sixth place. Together, the Aston Martin duo will start from the third row of the grid, and the team is now hopeful that they can both finish in the points on Sunday—something Alonso said “would be a really great result for the team.”
Fernando Alonso’s comments after qualifying
One of the first questions posed to Fernando Alonso after the session was about the surprising step forward in pace compared to the disappointing performance Aston Martin delivered at the previous race in Belgium. The Spanish driver attributed much of the improvement to the nature of the circuit, although he admitted he is still not completely certain that this was the only factor.
“Yes, I think the step forward is mostly due to the car,” said Fernando Alonso. “You know, we already felt competitive from FP1. And this is a very different kind of circuit compared to Spa, where we were racing just seven days ago.”
“At Spa-Francorchamps, we were at the very back of the grid. Now, suddenly, we’re starting fifth and sixth, so yes, that’s a huge turnaround,” the 43-year-old added. “That’s why we need to understand exactly what made the car perform so well here, and hopefully we can learn from this and bring those lessons into the next Grand Prix.”
The Aston Martin driver then commented on the final laps in Q3, where changing wind conditions affected nearly the entire field. Fernando Alonso pointed out that the final moments of qualifying were tricky for all drivers, yet he remained satisfied with the result.
“Yes, that final lap was definitely special—but really, all the laps were,” Alonso explained. “In Q3, I think the wind direction shifted a bit, and that made the circuit slower for everyone. In fact, we weren’t able to reach the same lap times we had earlier in Q1 and Q2. That was a bit frustrating. But in the end, P5 is a really great position for us, and I’m happy with it.”
Looking ahead to Sunday’s race, Fernando Alonso remained cautiously optimistic, acknowledging that it is difficult to predict what might happen once the lights go out.
“Tomorrow? Honestly, I don’t know what will be possible,” he said. “But we’ll try our best to stay in these positions. If we can finish the race where we’re starting from, it would be a really great achievement for the entire Aston Martin team.”
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