Alonso already ‘dreaming’ of next year as Aston's 2025 hopes dim

Fernando Alonso has all but written off the second half of the 2025 F1 season, turning his hopes toward a fresh start in 2026 with Aston Martin as the team endures a frustrating year in the midfield.

The two-time world champion acknowledged that little is likely to change this season and confirmed that most of Aston Martin’s attention has now turned to its future contender which is currently being developed under the sport’s next-generation technical rules.

In the interim, the Silverstone-based team’s struggles with the underperforming AMR25 have left them languishing in eighth place in the Constructors’ Championship, prompting Alonso to look ahead to a new era for the team, bolstered by Adrian Newey’s arrival and a fresh engine partnership with Honda.

A Season of Struggles

Aston Martin’s 2025 season has been a far cry from the podium-chasing days of Alonso’s early tenure with the team. With just 36 points and a car that has failed to compete at the front, Alonso and teammate Lance Stroll have been mired in the midfield.

Last weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, delayed by over an hour due to rain, underscored their challenges, with Alonso finishing a distant 18th and Stroll in 14th.

Despite tweaking the car’s setup for the wet conditions, Alonso dismissed it as a factor in their lackluster performance.

“We did change the set-up since this morning to accommodate a little bit [for] the rain, but it’s not an excuse,” he said after last Sunday’s race.

“We should not be that [much] slower in dry conditions with the changes we made. I think we were half a second from the Q2 cutoff time and we were not half a second slower because of the compromises we did.”

• Read also: F1i Driver Ratings for the 2025 Belgian Grand Prix

The Spaniard’s honest assessment reflects a broader reality for Aston Martin: the AMR25 is unlikely to deliver significant gains in the back half of 2025.

“Actually, I think 80 per cent of the focus is already on 2026, in a way,” Alonso explained. “Not only on the engineers and the design team. It’s also the drivers’ ahead, apart maybe from the two McLaren drivers.

“The rest of us, we are just thinking a little bit and dreaming about what could be a good season next year, because this year is going to change very little, I think, in the second part.”

Finding Fun in the Midfield

Despite the team’s disappointing performance, Alonso remains engaged in the tight midfield battle, where Aston trails Sauber by just seven points in the fight for fifth.

“So, it is fun to see all the midfield so close, and maybe there is some action between all the midfielders in the second part of the season, and it will be a fight for fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth in the Constructors’ Championship,” he said.

But for Alonso, the immediate goal is to maximize points and “have some fun” in the process, even if the bigger picture offers little hope.

“Apart from that, I think there is not much more to do. Try to learn, keep improving, try to work with the team in the best way possible. And as I said, in terms of points every two or three weekends, try to see the Constructors’ Championship and have some fun there.”

As Aston Martin prepares for a transformative 2026, with design guru Adrian Newey shaping their next challenger, Alonso’s focus is already on the horizon.

For now, the 44-year-old veteran is bracing for a tough end to 2025, finding motivation in small battles while dreaming of a return to form in the seasons to come.

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