The last two Formula 1 races have served as a serious wake-up call for Aston Martin. Despite introducing upgrades, the team has struggled to remain competitive, prompting Fernando Alonso to speak candidly about the challenges faced.
Aston Martin introduced a significant upgrade package at Imola, hoping to boost their performance. However, many of their direct rivals did the same, and Aston Martin found themselves unable to make any headway on the timesheets. The AMR24 car has proven to be particularly difficult to set up and drive, with both Fernando Alonso and teammate Lance Stroll experiencing balance issues—oversteer on entry and understeer mid-corner.
Alonso’s troubles became evident when he crashed during FP3 practice in Imola, a rare mistake that disrupted the rest of his weekend. Things didn’t improve much in Monaco, where car confidence is crucial. Both Alonso and Stroll failed to qualify within the top 10, further highlighting the car’s issues.
“These two weekends have been crucial to understand our weaknesses, to understand the car, to improve,” Alonso said after finishing just outside the points in 11th place. “In the difficulties you always draw more conclusions than in the victories, so we are learning a lot for the rest of the year, 2025, and 2026. These two races have been a big wake-up call and it will be very good for us.”
Alonso doesn’t expect a quick fix, admitting that it will take “a few races” before Aston Martin can introduce their next big upgrade package. “[We had] some doubts after Imola and in Monaco that we didn’t manage to go fast, and we have to try to change this trend,” the two-time world champion explained. “It will take us a few races until we introduce a significant improvement in the car, but until then we have to give everything and we have to improve on the track to get the results. There will be better days, worse days and we have to be united.”
Lance Stroll also shared his perspective on the car’s handling difficulties. “It’s been more of a challenge for sure [to keep the car balanced]. Some entry oversteer, some corner understeer, kerb riding, just the usual things to keep working on. It’s a little bit of a trickier balance than the car we had last year for sure.”
The recent struggles have made clear that Aston Martin has significant work ahead to improve their performance. Both Alonso and Stroll seem committed to overcoming these challenges, even if it takes a few races to see progress. For now, the team is focused on understanding their issues and taking steps to address them.
Source: Motorsport
