Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin confirm the team’s step forward in the qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix, but an error in Q2 by Fernando Alonso, who damaged the floor, leaves him out of Q3.
Aston Martin confirms the step forward
There were many doubts as to how the Aston Martin would perform in this first qualifying, perhaps they themselves did not know either, but the first showing was good, perhaps better than expected. Fernando Alonso was just two tenths of a second behind the best time set by McLaren (who saved all their energy for Q3), and he was able to save himself setting a time at the end of this first session.
It was a pleasant, exciting surprise. This Q1 demonstrated the step forward made by the British and it only remained to be seen how far Alonso was capable of placing the AMR25.
A mistake in Q2 ended his chances
But what started as a surprise ended up being cut short in Q2. Fernando Alonso started by improving his times in the first sector of his first attempt in Q2, but he had a slight off-track excursion, but enough to hit the gravel and damage the flat bottom of the AMR25. The team started a race against the clock to try to minimize damage, Alonso returned to the track and started his only attempt a few seconds before the end of Q2, with a lot of traffic. He didn’t manage to improve his Q1 time, but he did manage to put his Aston Martin in 12th place, one place above his teammate Lance Stroll.
Alonso acknowledges his mistake
After the race, Fernando Alonso confirmed that his mistake damaged the AMR25, which is why he was unable to compete with the best in Q3. “I made a mistake on turn ten, there was some damage to the floor, and the car was not 100%”.
Despite the mistake, Fernando Alonso was very satisfied with the performance of the AMR25. “I’m happy with the first qualifying of the year, the car is fast”. He says that, given the circumstances, “I’m satisfied with 12th to start with”.
Finally, Fernando Alonso is optimistic for this Sunday’s race and hopes to recover some positions to get into the top ten. “We’ll try to score some points”.
Mixed feelings
Much has been said about Aston Martin’s performance during the preseason, and it was anyone’s guess where they might be in this first Australian GP. The truth is that the performance of the AMR25 has been good, but we will never know what position Fernando Alonso would have scored if he hadn’t made the mistake that deprived him of competing in Q3 with the best.
Now we know that the Aston Martin is capable of reaching Q3, even if it didn’t make it today, tomorrow we will be able to find out the second big unknown, its performance in the race (provided that the rain allows us to obtain real data). Tyre degradation and overheating of the car were some of the problems that Aston Martin suffered last year, as well as understeering and a lack of stability in corners.
Fernando Alonso has a good chance of finishing in the points tomorrow, he has the car to do so and we are used to him climbing up the rankings in races, whatever the conditions. The fact that he starts just in front of his team mate gives him an advantage at the start, as the latter should not challenge him for position on the grid.
The Australian Grand Prix could confirm that Aston Martin has made up lost ground with respect to 2024, and we will see if this encourages them to fight for more ambitious goals in future races.