Alonso sees only ‘one or two’ more opportunities for points in 2025

Fernando Alonso delivered a grim assessment of Aston Martin’s prospects for the remainder of the current F1 season after the team’s mediocre display in the Miami Grand Prix, where the Spaniard and teammate Lance Stroll finished as the last classified runners.

The Silverstone-based outfit’s double Q1 exit and Alonso’s lap-down finish underscored a stark contrast from their 2023 highs, when Alonso secured third at the same circuit.

That year, he notched six podiums in eight races, but 2025 has seen him remain pointless, with Aston Martin languishing a lowly seventh in F1’s Constructors’ Championship.

A Lot of Pace to Find

Despite pushing hard across the weekend, Alonso left Florida empty-handed yet again in a season that has so far failed to yield a single point.

“It says that we have some difficulties ahead, for sure, and some pace to find,” Alonso reflected after the race.

“We were two years ago fighting for podium here, so I was one of the quickest, I had a pink last sector.

“We were reviewing yesterday some of that thing, and we’re still the same, or a higher level, because as I said, a performance like this morning in the Sprint and in qualifying probably are a little bit higher than 2023, as I was still adapting to the car and to the team back then.

“And we are on the other side of the field, so there is something that we need to understand and work harder, but we try to be united and do it all together.”

Alonso dismissed the notion that Miami was uniquely painful compared to other races.

“No, I think the weekends have been very similar to be honest,” he reasoned. “We’ve been always with some challenges, but qualifying normally gets a bit better than expected, so we started a little bit higher [or lower down the grid] than what we should be.”

He pointed to consistent struggles, like burning through three sets of tyres in Q1 and finishing just outside the points, as in Japan’s P11.

“We are not giving up, Imola is next, and we know that we need to get better,” he vowed.

Missed Opportunities and a Bleak Forecast

Alonso’s frustration peaked over strategic missteps, particularly in the Sprint race, where he believes pitting for dry tyres as the track dried could have yielded third place.

“Yesterday, the track was for dry tyres and we kept with the Inters for too long,” he lamented.
The 43-year-old sees such chaotic races as Aston Martin’s only chances to score, given the car’s lack of pace.

“Yesterday, as I said, I think we have three or four opportunities in the year where chaos is happening and you have the possibility to score points,” he explained.

Read also:

• Tost adamant: ‘Aston Martin will be the team of the future’

“There were three already this year, one in Australia, I had the mistake and I went on the gravel and off. It happened in China with three or four cars disqualifying, and I had the brakes on fire in lap one.”

With three opportunities squandered, Alonso’s outlook is dour.

“We missed three opportunities to score points in my case, and I think it’s going to be one or two more in the season. Let’s hope not to miss those ones,” he said.

Asked if nailing the setup could yield points, he was blunt: “No, I don’t think so. Japan, P11; Jeddah was nearly perfect.” His comments reflect a team struggling to compete on merit, reliant on rivals’ misfortunes.

On potential upgrades, the two-tom world champion deferred to team management.

“I’m trying to do my best behind the wheel, but this is a good question for our managers,” he said. “They know what is in the pipeline, they work really hard, we support them.

“But we cannot talk about the technicality of the car and the upgrades because we are not in the loop every week.”

With Imola looming, Alonso’s focus remains on maximizing his performance, but his prognosis – only “one or two” more chances to score – paints a sobering picture for Aston Martin’s 2025 campaign.

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via X and Facebook