Aston Martin‘s start to the season has been well below expectations at the beginning of the year. After the British team made a big investment in recent years, it was expected that Fernando Alonso would be fighting for the upper midfield. However, the AMR25 is ninth on the current grid, and chaos reigns within the team. Nevertheless, the next two races give the team hope in the form of updates.
AMR25, the penultimate car in F1
After the first five races of the season, Aston Martin has shown major problems with the car. The start of the season had promised a good year for the British team, the year before making the big leap in F1. However, the year started badly and has gone from bad to worse. At least in the first two races, Lance Stroll was able to score points, but Fernando Alonso had to retire. The weather was key to the British team finishing in the top ten.
However, in the following three Grand Prix races, there were no incidents and the real level of each team could be seen. And Aston Martin is ninth on the grid, ahead of only Sauber (future Audi). The AMR25 is the slowest car on the grid, one of the slowest in slow corners, and only the magic and tenacity of Fernando Alonso has managed to keep the car close to the points in two of the last three races, but he has come away empty-handed. Meanwhile, Stroll has been stuck in the back of the pack with no chance of improving.
Fernando Alonso himself, after the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, called for urgent solutions from the team. Both he and the team have tried everything on the track, and the results have been disastrous.
At the Aston Martin factory, virtually all staff are working on the AMR26. Only two working groups are still working on this season’s car, and when they finish their tasks, they will also move on to the 2026 organization chart. The first working group is waiting for the first package of updates, with which they hope to be able to make an impact on the qualifying grid. And that first package of improvements seems to be ready.
Improvements for Aston Martin
Following the debut of the new wind tunnel and with all the tools now available at the factory, Aston Martin is preparing the first package of upgrades for the upcoming races. The new wind tunnel has yielded different data from the tests carried out with the Mercedes tunnel, and they are clinging to this information in order to take a step forward in the upcoming races.
The first update will not arrive all at once: a first package of improvements, at a minimum, will already be present this weekend at the F1 Miami Grand Prix. They do not seem very ambitious, although they are expected to improve the current AMR25 somewhat. The fact that it is a sprint weekend does not help with their implementation either.
However, for the Italian Grand Prix, which takes place on May 18 in Imola, the full package will arrive at the AMR25. The team is treading carefully after a poor start to the season, but behind closed doors, there is great hope that these new updates will provide a boost to the team’s aspirations, which is hoping to finish in the top 10 in the races.
Aston Martin is running out of options: this update package will be the first of two to arrive this year. The second will come mid-season, and with them, Fernando Alonso and the team will have to push on until the end of the year.