Alonso: Aston Martin needs 2025 shake-up, current F1 form is "not good enough"
Anticipation of Adrian Newey's arrival at Aston Martin in 2026 must not take attention off 2025, says Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR24, in the pit lane
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Fernando Alonso believes that Aston Martin needs "a shake-up" for 2025, stating that the current performance of its AMR24 Formula 1 car is "not good enough".
Alonso pointed to the team's anticipation of Adrian Newey's arrival in March next year, too late to have any real impact on the design of its car for next season but with a view to improving its fortunes for 2026.
He noted that Aston Martin's simulations had predicted it would be the "seventh- or eighth-fastest" in Singapore, which the Spaniard managed to transcend with seventh on the grid in qualifying. Lance Stroll qualified 17th, however.
Speaking about the future, Alonso suggested that the team couldn't afford to simply sacrifice 2025 for a better 2026, and that those in charge of the car's design need to "change the pace" for next year in order to find more success.
"I think 2026 is in our heads, for everyone at Aston, and the biggest hope with Adrian coming, Enrico [Cardile] and some other names.
"This is going to be great, and the future looks bright, but 2025 is... we need to shake things a little bit. I mean, it's not good enough what we are doing right now, and 2025 we need to change the pace."
Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin F1 Team, settles into the car
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Alonso explained that he and the team at the track were giving their all to get the most out of the car, which has vastly increased their workload as the performance of the AMR24 has slipped back over the year.
He suggested that those back at the factory needed to increase the rate of development, as the track team could not perform "miracles" to get the car punching above its weight.
The team started the year well, but upgrades tended to make the car more difficult to drive - taking confidence away from Alonso and Stroll.
"Right now, I'm applying all the efforts to overcome a little bit the lack of pace," Alonso added.
"A lot of work has been done between Baku and here. Yesterday, we left the computer at 2am. We have been increasing the work to find answers, more than ever now.
"We are putting everything in, but we are finding that, you know, there are no miracles to be made here on track, and we need the help from the factory now in terms of development of the car."
Additional reporting by Jose Carlos de Celis
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