Fernando Alonso is affected person, that’s plain.
The Spanish veteran has did not take a single grand prix victory in his final 225 entries. His second and newest System 1 world title was almost 20 years in the past.
And but, he’s nonetheless right here. Not solely is he nonetheless right here, he’s nonetheless acting at a excessive degree, on the age of 44, seemingly extracting essentially the most out of the Aston Martin AMR25.
‘Seemingly’, as a result of his team-mate Lance Stroll, albeit skilled, stays one thing of an unknown. However this yr, Alonso’s dominance over the Canadian turned much more overwhelming.
Alonso outqualified Stroll in all 24 grand prix qualifying periods. Even counting dash qualifying, the two-time F1 champion is on a 28-strong successful streak towards his team-mate, who prevailed at Shanghai solely, by 0.073s. Over the entire season, the common hole was 0.367s.
Alonso did fail to attain over the primary eight rounds, when he normally failed to succeed in Q3, although he certified fifth at Imola, the place his technique was hampered by a digital security automobile intervention.
Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing, Carlos Sainz, Williams
Photograph by: Lars Baron / Motorsport Photographs through Getty Photographs
There was clear pessimism in these early phases of the season, with Alonso pissed off to finish up thirteenth in qualifying at a Jeddah observe the place he had “been tremendous quick at all times”. Aston was by far the group who had gained the least efficiency into 2025 with its equipment; its primary weak point was slow-speed corners.
However Alonso’s Imola efficiency was no serendipity, as that’s the place Aston introduced an replace bundle that made it a constant Q3 contender – a minimum of within the group’s older driver’s palms. However Alonso was now complaining a few lack of prime velocity that pressured him to “invent” overtakes in uncommon locations.
A four-round points-scoring streak ensued, however Alonso was sad to complete solely ninth at Silverstone, the place Nico Hulkenberg took his maiden podium, after each his pitstops turned out to be ill-timed.
Some updates did not show aggressive, and a horrendous Spa-Francorchamps weekend adopted with each Astons on the again row of the grid, earlier than they rocketed to fifth and sixth the subsequent weekend in Hungary – however the squad was none the wiser as they didn’t fairly perceive how the turnaround occurred.
“The great factor is that we have been aggressive and we have been quick. The regarding factor is that we do not know why,” Alonso stated after ending the race in fifth, which turned out to be his finest results of the season.
However he was bitter about these unsuccessful upgrades: “That is System 1, not an academy to check issues. Right here you need to ship.”
Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing
Photograph by: Zak Mauger / LAT Photographs through Getty Photographs
By the Austin spherical, the place he reached Q3 in each qualifying periods and scored some extent, Alonso once more claimed that Aston had the ninth-fastest automobile out of 10.
To sum it up, the Spaniard has been grumpy. His Imola misfortune prompted him to say “it’s what we deserve”; he snapped at his engineer after a technique mishap at Zandvoort – “you forgot about me within the first half of the race, perhaps you keep in mind I am right here within the second half”; he referred to as on the group to “get some relaxation for 2026” as early as October.
His frame of mind was exemplified by his late-season feedback, stating he was going to rejoice the final two grands prix – “as a result of we can’t be driving this automobile anymore”.
So, Alonso’s focus is on 2026. He completed tenth within the 2025 championship, with simply 56 factors to his identify – which isn’t atrocious given Aston’s struggles however nonetheless is his worst consequence since he returned to F1 with Alpine in 2021. That’s not what he’s right here for, he has made that plainly clear.
F1’s new technical period from 2026 is Alonso’s final shot at glory, and who higher to steer Aston’s potential title bid than Adrian Newey? The legendary engineer, who has contributed to 26 world titles throughout the drivers’ and constructors’ championships, joined the group 9 months in the past and is now taking over the group principal mantle.
Given how a lot Lawrence Stroll has invested into the Silverstone-based outfit, together with a state-of-the-art campus, it has all it must succeed. Time will inform if Alonso lastly will get rewarded for his persistence.
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