Anthony Davidson highlights one Aston Martin decision that ‘really hurt’ Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll at Imola

Aston Martin looked on course for a double points finish in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, but a series of unfortunate events ultimately made them fall short.

Fernando Alonso had qualified in the top five places, while Lance Stroll was eighth fastest following a strong qualifying session.

The Spaniard has yet to score a point in 2025 after a difficult start to the season, and with Aston Martin’s upgrades they looked set for a points finish.

Alonso said the upgrades had to work ‘no matter what’ for Aston Martin to salvage their season, and their one-lap pace suggested they made inroads.

But during the race, things didn’t go to plan, with both drivers dropping outside of the top ten. Anthony Davidson highlighted one decision that he thinks caused Aston Martin to drop back when commentating on Sky Sports.

Aston Martin made a mistake committing on hard tyres

Earlier in the race, another Virtual Safety Car was deployed for a separate incident, giving those who decided to extend their first stint a chance to have a free pit stop.

Aston Martin had elected to pit both drivers for a set of hard tyres, but when the full Safety Car came out, they didn’t pit for fresh tyres.

Both Alonso and Stroll could not put up a defence, with the Spaniard just dropping outside the top 10 behind Yuki Tsunoda in P11.

“That earlier pit stop for the Aston Martin going onto the harder tyres and committing to it under the Virtual Safety Car, choosing track position over new tyre speed. That’s what really hurt them,” said Davidson.

Aston Martin drop behind Haas in championship

Aston Martin have dropped behind Haas in the Constructors’ Championship following the first seven races of the 2025 season.

The team are currently sitting in seventh place, having only amassed 14 points, all of which were scored by Stroll.

Alonso will be encouraged by the progress made in Imola, considering Adrian Newey is also known to have had ‘lunchtime discussions’ over improving their 2025 challenger.

If this puts them on the right path, Aston Martin could be regular challengers in the top 10 in the remaining races of the season.