Martin Brundle is finding £1.6bn-valued F1 team horrible to watch, they can’t keep up with ‘tiny’ rivals

The F1 world championship has split into its now customary tiers. McLaren, Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari are establishing a gap, with the six remaining teams battling it out for ‘best of the rest’.

Right now, that mantle belongs to Haas. Ayao Komatsu’s squad were the slowest team on the grid at a disastrous Australian Grand Prix but have rallied commendably since.

Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman delivered the team’s second double-points finish in four races at the Bahrain Grand Prix last weekend. That saw them leapfrog Williams, who failed to score for the first time.

Aston Martin are seventh, but Lance Stroll scored all of their points in a rain-affected Melbourne season opener. Racing Bulls have looked quicker than Red Bull in bursts, but only have seven points to show for it.

Alpine got off the mark last weekend as Pierre Gasly produced a stellar drive to finish seventh, having qualified fourth. And that means Sauber return to the bottom of the standings, even though they’ve already exceeded their 2024 points tally.

Martin Brundle says ‘ouch’ as Aston Martin struggle ‘horribly’

Writing in his post-race column for Sky Sports, pundit Martin Brundle grimaced at Aston Martin’s problems. This time last year, Aston had scored 33 points and were just one behind Mercedes.

But even P7 in the championship seems to flatter them right now. They haven’t reached Q3 all season and have bowed out in Q1 twice.

In Bahrain, Fernando Alonso – the two-time world champion who’s still yet to score point – limped to 15th after starting 13th. And Stroll was two places further back following a second successive back-row start.

Aston Martin are valued at £1.6bn, and yet they can’t keep up with rivals who have far fewer resources. Haas are the smallest team in F1 but there’s every indication that they’ve built a better race car.

“The relatively tiny Haas team are now fifth in the constructors’ championship ahead of teams such as Aston Martin, who continue to struggle horribly, with Fernando Alonso still yet to score a single point,” Brundle wrote. “Ouch.”

Aston Martin signed the wrong teammate for Fernando Alonso and they just saw the evidence

Alonso had a visit from the ‘paddock policeman’ after a bizarre incident at the Bahrain GP. After going blank, his steering wheel detached while out on track.

The Spaniard avoided serious incident, but it was a rather embarrassing moment for a team whose reputation is declining every week. They aim to compete for race wins at the very least following the regulation changes this winter, but they need to establish a winning culture first.

Alonso missed FP1 in Bahrain after reserve driver Felipe Drugovich was given an opportunity. Drugovich proved he should be in F1 after virtually matching Stroll.

Stroll was ‘pretty angry’ with Aston Martin over a set-up error, but that’s back-to-back weekends where he’s been completely anonymous. Perhaps the team chose the wrong driver for 2025.