Fernando Alonso will be hoping for the 2025 Formula 1 season to start much more positively than the previous campaign ended.
Although Fernando Alonso finished in the points in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, that was more of a demonstration of his talent than the outright pace of last year’s Aston Martin.
The constructors’ championship finished with Aston Martin in fifth, but that wasn’t a true representation of their position in the pecking order once the campaign ended.
By the time the chequered flag flew at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Alpine and Haas could definitely claim to have quicker cars than Aston Martin and Racing Bulls, Williams and Sauber were all equally competitive.
Alonso’s teammate Lance Stroll didn’t score a point during the final 11 Grand Prix of the season and finished 46 points behind the two-time world champion.
It highlighted just how important Alonso’s talent was to the team as he was grinding out results that didn’t represent how poor the AMR24 was.
Now, all eyes are on Aston Martin’s 2025 car and the work done behind the scenes to try and make the team more competitive again.
Aston Martin have made an extreme change to their car this year, while they only showed off new parts such as their front wing during a filming day rather than the first official photos.
Unfortunately for Alonso, technical expert Gary Anderson – speaking on The Race F1 Podcast – hasn’t been impressed by what he’s seen from Andy Cowell’s team.
Gary Anderson not ‘excited’ by Aston Martin’s 2025 Formula 1 car
Anderson analysed Aston Martin’s 2025 F1 car and when asked for his verdict, he said: “I’m really not seeing anything that makes me jump out and is getting me excited.
“It’s a neat and tidy little package. The details are all there, I suppose you might call it.
“But there’s nothing sort of… It’s not revolutionary, I think you’re trying to say. There’s nothing sort of excites me about what I’ve seen.
“The front and rear suspension system in reality looks very similar to last year. Still a push-rod operated front suspension, doesn’t look like they’ve changed the anti-dive at all.
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“The rear suspension, it’s very difficult from the pictures I’ve seen so far, but if anything they’ve reduced the anti-lift on the rear of the car.
“So again, they must have done some of these things for a certain reason. As far as I know, they use the Mercedes gearbox and rear suspension package.
“But, at the end of the day, you can alter some things yourself.”
Fernando Alonso is a changed driver since his first spell in Formula 1
Alonso holds the record for most Grand Prix starts and until he retires, Lewis Hamilton – the next most experienced active driver – can’t make a dent in his tally.
The Spaniard started his F1 career back in 2001 with Minardi before many of his current rivals were even both.
Sky Sports broadcaster Natalie Pinkham noticed a change in Alonso after he returned from a three-year sabbatical in 2021 and Aston Martin are now benefitting from that change.
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Alonso is doing things at Aston Martin that they’ve never seen before from another driver, including another former world champion in Sebastian Vettel.
His expertise must be taken into account this season and the idea of him working alongside Adrian Newey to develop Aston Martin’s 2026 car will excite many of the team’s fans.
However, unless they’ve been hiding some of their developments for this season, then it’s unlikely that Alonso will be adding to his tally of podiums, let alone wins, in 2025.
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