Aston Martin’s Challenges in the 2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

The Aston Martin Formula 1 team is currently undergoing a rebuilding phase, as demonstrated by their performance at the 2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Lance Stroll was eliminated in Q1, while Fernando Alonso struggled to progress beyond Q2.

Alonso’s Qualifying Performance

In an attempt to advance to Q2, Alonso used three sets of new soft tires, but ultimately failed to progress due to the lack of fresh tires for the next round. ‘This is one of my favorite circuits,’ he said after qualifying 13th. ‘Even from Alpine times, I’ve always been super fast in Jeddah… It’s hard because if I crash, everyone will blame my mistake. I’m not satisfied with the position we are in.’

Despite his efforts, Alonso’s potential has remained elusive. Over the past three seasons, Aston Martin has struggled to build performance through upgrade packages, even when starting the season with a reasonably competitive car.

Aston Martin’s Technical Issues

Last year, Aston Martin resorted to splitting upgrade packages across its cars for back-to-back comparisons in identical conditions, which is indicative of correlation issues with the simulation tools. The team has now moved out of the Mercedes facility in Brackley and is using its new, cutting-edge in-house tunnel.”

The team has been cautious about throwing resources into the AMR25, preferring to focus on the 2026 project. However, new elements including tweaks to the floor have been signed off and are making their way through the production pipeline.

Alonso’s Frustration

Delivery cannot come soon enough for Alonso, since he feels the team has run out of ideas in terms of finding performance through setup changes alone. ‘It has been a difficult weekend,’ he said. ‘We didn’t unlock any pace. We tried many different setups. All of them had more or less the same outcome at the end of the lap.’