Alonso calls for redesign of Melbourne’s Turn 6 after costly crash

Fernando Alonso was hoping to kick off his 2025 F1 season with a productive weekend Down Under, but instead it turned into a gravel-fueled nightmare that ended in the barriers for the Aston Martin charger.

The Spaniard has subsequently called for changes to Albert Park’s Turn 6 which kicked gravel onto the track all weekend and eventually ambushed him mid-race on Sunday.

After qualifying a lowly P12 on Saturday due to suffering floor damage in the session, Alonso was running a steady P10 when he suddenly lost control of his AMR25 on the exit of Turn 6 on lap 34 of 57 and spun into the barriers.

For the two-time world champion, the revised corner, widened years ago to boost speed and overtaking, was a trap waiting to spring.

“I need to review the incident, but difficult to understand at the moment,” he told the media after the race, quoted by F1 reporter Adam Cooper.

“I think I was not off track or putting the car on a different racing line than any other lap before, so I found a lot of gravel just there in that moment where I put the rear tyre and I lost the car.

“So that Turn 6 design probably is not the best, bringing gravel to the track and not away from the track. But it was the same for everybody. And a mistake today, and in five days, we have another go.”

Safety Concerns and Call for Changes

Alonso was not the only driver caught out by the problematic corner, and the Spaniard emphasized the need for a rethink to improve safety.

“Yeah, I think so. I think we had a lot of damaged cars. I think Antonelli in qualifying destroyed the floor there,” he said.

“We should never have a corner that the gravel goes into the track, because that's danger for drivers, marshals, everyone. So that's number one priority. So, yeah, I think Turn 6 will have to do a little bit of a trick.”

Alonso argued that while Melbourne’s semi-street circuit always presents a challenge, the gravel spreading across the racing line is an avoidable and unacceptable risk.

“It's a semi-street circuit, so Melbourne is going to be always difficult. And you feel like a passenger on the car, because the car goes and that's it, you crash,” he added.

“My case again, it's a little bit different, because it was not a white line. The track was completely dry. It was a dry line. In fact, people changed for dry tyres immediately after my crash.

“So it was just gravel, a lot of gravel into the track. And I was surprised about that.”

Stroll Shines Amid the Chaos

While Alonso fumed, Lance Stroll quietly turned the weekend around for Aston Martin. Starting 13th, he played the tyre strategy game like a maestro, leaping to sixth as others floundered in the wet-dry shuffle.

For a team desperate to see the AMR25’s potential, it was a lifeline. Alonso, despite his own woes, tipped his hat.

“It was okay, quite positive from the weekend in general,” he said of the car’s showing. “I was in the mix, maybe a little bit faster than Gasly, but difficult to overtake when there is only one racing line which is dry, and outside of that is wet. We kept Antonelli behind for a few laps.”

Stroll’s result hinted at what might’ve been.

“There are some weaknesses that we need to tackle, but at the same time, we found ourselves in the mix with all the other cars, and if we do good weekends, we can score good points,” Alonso added.

Chasing Consistency and the Right Setup

As Aston Martin continues to evaluate the AMR25’s capabilities, Alonso stressed that setup experimentation is crucial, especially after seeing inconsistent performances between practice and qualifying.

“I think a little bit is set up as well. We kept experimenting here, and we saw the difference between FP3 performance and quali performance yesterday,” he explained.

“So it was the same car, same package, but one was very competitive, one was less, so there is a little bit of a setup investigation that we need to keep on going.

“And next weekend, obviously, China is a sprint, so not much experimenting. But I think we are in that phase of the year that all the teams, they are learning about the package, and we are no different.”

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