In the shadows: How Vandoorne is helping shape Aston’s F1 future

While Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll take the headlines on Sundays, Aston Martin reserve driver Stoffel Vandoorne has been quietly contributing to the team’s present while helping shape its future.

As the Silverstone squad gears up for the sweeping 2026 regulation overhaul and the arrival of a new Honda power unit, the Belgian has become a key figure in the team’s ongoing development work.

Outside of Formula 1, Vandoorne has kept a busy schedule this year. He clinched Maserati’s first Formula E win of the GEN3 Evo era in Tokyo and remains part of Peugeot’s World Endurance Championship line-up, having been retained for its 2026 campaign after a planned move to Genesis’ LMDh project fell through.

“I’m definitely attending a lot more races nowadays in the second part of the year,” Vandoorne told Speedcafe. “I’m also spending much more time in the sim basically before the events.

“And yeah, kind of gradually shifting the focus towards 2026 as well with all the development that is ongoing.”

Building for the Future

For Aston Martin, 2025 has been a year of recalibration – a bridge between the present and a very ambitious future. Vandoorne’s experience across multiple championships has made him an invaluable resource as the team sharpens its technical package and operational rhythm.

“What is important for us is that we’re putting together a strong group of people,” he said.

“We’ve got some very competent people within the team right now and we’re hopefully going to start seeing some of the results of that.”

The 33-year-old has been deeply embedded in the team’s pre-weekend planning and simulator work, fine-tuning setups and supporting the engineers with data correlation.

It’s not glamorous work, but it’s vital – especially with Aston Martin looking to hit the ground running once F1’s new era begins.

Old Allies, New Dynamics

Vandoorne’s time at Aston Martin has also reunited him with a familiar face – Fernando Alonso, his former McLaren teammate. The Belgian says working with the Spaniard now feels like a mature version of their past partnership.

“I think he’s still got the same motivation,” Vandoorne explained.

“I think he probably changed his approach a little bit of how he’s working with teams and obviously he’s got a bit more experience as well. How to deal with certain situations. I think he’s a little bit different than he used to be back then.”

He also praised Lance Stroll’s dedication and growing confidence behind the wheel.

“We talk a lot through the weekends,” Vandoorne said. “We’re kind of more a similar age and we kind of drove or started Formula 1 around a similar time.

“We kind of have a few more things in common and yeah we’re just trying to talk about a lot of stuff. About his feelings in the car. I try to kind of add my comments to that.

“Lance is a hard worker. So just got to try and make the car a bit quicker at the moment and hopefully we’ll see the results soon.”

Eyes on 2026: ‘It’s all up in the air’

With the biggest technical reset in F1 history looming, Vandoorne believes the next era could shuffle the pack – but cautions that progress will take time.

“I think it’s a little bit of an unknown for everyone to be honest at this stage,” he said.

“For sure, the cars are going to feel quite different. The regulations are very different. We could see some big surprises across the grid. But it’s kind of all up in the air.

“One in Formula 1 is it won’t change from one day to another. You need a bit of time. But if you look over the last couple of months, the people that we brought on board, I think it’s going in the right direction.

“Hopefully we start seeing some of the results from that.”

Read also:

• Cowell’s big call: Aston Martin will reach the top – and stay there!

From simulator sessions to late-night debriefs, Vandoorne’s fingerprints are quietly etched across Aston Martin’s development drive.

He may not be in the spotlight, but as the team gears up for Formula 1’s brave new world, his work could prove crucial in shaping the green machine’s next big leap.

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