Ted Kravitz reveals what he’s heard Adrian Newey is now doing behind the scenes at Aston Martin after Imola updates impress

Aston Martin’s upgrade package for Imola appears to have brought them some performance after what happened in qualifying for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

Fernando Alonso qualified in P5 ahead of Carlos Sainz, while Lance Stroll will also start from P8 ahead of both Ferrari drivers.

Aston Martin gambled in Q2 and put their drivers on a set of medium tyres for their final runs, enabling them to knock out both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.

Jacques Villeneuve was left stunned by Ferrari and felt they should have copied Aston Martin, while the performance appeared to vindicate the upgrade package fitted to their car.

Alonso said the upgrades had to work ‘no matter what’ if they wanted to turn around their fortunes, although there is some ambiguity over whether Adrian Newey was involved.

• READ MORE: All to know about Aston Martin managing technical partner Adrian Newey

Ted Kravitz does not believe what Fernando Alonso told him about Adrian Newey

The Silverstone-based squad has struggled since the start of the season, with Alonso still yet to score points in the first six races.

Aston Martin have made it clear that Newey is now working on their car for the 2026 season, but Kravitz revealed that the design guru has had some ‘lunchtime meetings’ over rectifying their problems when speaking on Sky Sports.

“Let’s not discount the upgrades at Aston Martin, which Fernando Alonso said was not from the pen of Adrian Newey,” said Kravitz.

“Really? While Adrian Newey is focused on 2026, he has apparently been having chats over lunch and told engineers, ‘Have you thought of this?’”

Fernando Alonso could score first points of 2025 at Imola

Alonso’s top five start presents the best opportunity to score his first points of 2025, having yet to get any on the board.

The Spaniard crashed out of the opening round in Melbourne in the tricky conditions, then in Miami he was running in the points but was punted out by Liam Lawson.

Other races for Aston Martin have also been difficult, with the squad struggling to get out of Q2 and on occasion Q3 in some qualifying sessions.

Alonso will be hopeful that he can get his season back on track at Imola, with the upgrade package appearing to put them in the right direction for now.