Fernando Alonso has identified the key issues hindering the performance of the 2025 Aston Martin Formula 1 challenger.
Aston Martin endured a tumultuous campaign where development saw it routinely slip down the pecking order as the year wore on, but the team was adamant it was learning valuable lessons to inform its 2025 design process.
Alas, despite a restructure of the technical leadership under CEO and Team Principal Andy Cowell, the AMR25 has had a difficult introduction to the 2025 campaign, with Aston Martin’s place in the pecking order hitting a ceiling as the eighth-fastest team.
Alonso, despite his wealth of experience and capabilities, is yet to score a point this term and after coming up short once again in Bahrain, conceded the team needs improvements otherwise, points will be hard to come by for the remainder of the campaign.
“We need some improvement, it was a difficult weekend, we expected to be slow here with all the low speed content in Bahrain, but yeah, we need to improve the car, it’s not only the low speed, I think it’s a little bit everywhere, and we need to get better, hopefully [Saudi Arabia] will be a little bit more friendly to us, but yeah, scoring points seems difficult this year,” he surmised in conversation with select media, including Motorsport Week, following the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Low-speed cornering Aston Martin’s key weakness
When asked to pinpoint Aston Martin’s main weaknesses, Alonso pointed to low-speed corners, a problem that was highlighted at the Bahrain International Circuit.
“Yeah, I think low speed, low speed was our weakest sector in Australia, Japan and China, Bahrain is all about low speed and has been our least competitive weekend,” he said.
“So yeah, that’s where the focus has to be.
“I think we are trying everything we can, so it’s not that we are just happy with the results, we just need to make it to the track as fast as possible.”
Pinpointing the exact issue through low-speed cornering, Alonso was particularly damning with his verdict.
“Tricky at the exit, but also mid-corner, so it’s like the car is dying in the low speed, so yeah, a well-known problem that we had last year as well and we still have this year,” he said.
Points hard to come by in Jeddah
Next up is the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, fast, flowing and perhaps better suited to the Aston Martin AMR25.
Still, whilst Alonso thinks Saudi will be kinder to Aston Martin, he believes points are a tough ask given the prosperity of midfield rivals Williams, Racing Bulls and Haas.
“I think Jeddah will be a little bit better for us, but I think to be in the points is a little bit difficult for us at the moment,” he said.
“[The] top four teams are in another league, and then there is always Haas, Williams, [Racing Bulls] a little bit ahead of us as well, so you quickly are the seventh or eighth team and in those positions you cannot score points unless you are very, very lucky.
“So yeah, let’s see, we will try our best,” he concluded.
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