Fernando Alonso finished his season on somewhat of a high as he crossed the line in P9 at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in his Aston Martin, fending off the McLaren of Oscar Piastri at the end of the race.
Taking advantage at the start
The collision between Piastri and Verstappen at turn 1 allowed the two-time F1 World Champion to move up to 6th, although he could not keep up with Gasly and Hülkenberg as the race progressed.
Alonso was overhauled by Leclerc, Verstappen and Hamilton in faster cars as he fell into a natural position considering the pace of the AMR24.
After a very tough campaign for Aston Martin, Alonso is looking forward to the arrivals of Enrico Cardile and Adrian Newey, as well as the regulation overhaul coming in 2026.
“Yeah, for sure [I had a smile after turn 1].
“The last two races, finishing in the points, for sure is a good thing to finish on a positive note, after the Austin-Mexico-Brazil point-less [races].
“Now I think we can reset, we can learn from all the difficulties and the mistakes of this year and apply those learnings into next year’s project.
“Next few months, obviously, very interesting with Enrico Cardile joining the team, Adrian Newey in March or April or whatever.
“2026, new rules, Honda coming to the team. Exciting times.
“I’m happy to be in the team on this transition and on this exciting project.
“I’m enjoying all the process of it.”
The toll of a 24-race calendar
In March next year, it will be 24 years since Alonso made his bow at the 2001 Australian Grand Prix for Minardi.
His rookie season featured 17 races, although testing between events was a regular thing back then.
For the first time in 2024, 24 races were ran, with 30 overall if you include the Sprints.
Alonso conceded the last triple-header was not easy as they jumped from Las Vegas on the western side of the US to Qatar in the space of a few days.
“Yes, it is a big difference.
“At the beginning of my career, there were testing sessions happening between races, so at the end it was very similar.
“But I think in 2010, 2012, 2014 or whatever, until now, I think more races are coming.
“Some of the races in the calendar, like the last three, are a little bit painful for travelling and time zones and things like that, but here we are.
“We are all professionals, trying to do our best every Sunday and it’s not a problem.”
No miracles in Formula One as Aston Martin look to recover
Aston Martin started the season pretty well as they managed to fight for Q3 spots consistently, and Alonso was able to qualify in the top 5 in Saudi Arabia (P4), Japan (P5) and China (P3).
However, race pace was clearly a problem from Bahrain as they tended to go backwards over a race distance.
As the season went on, car development did not move them forward as other teams like Haas and Alpine made big gains at various points in the season.
By the end of 2024, Aston Martin could only classify themselves as the 8th fastest team, although the points collected in the first quarter of the season meant their P5 in the Constructors’ Championship was never under threat as they finished with just 94 in total.
While Alonso is pleased with the changes Group Chief Executive Officer Andy Cowell is making, he is under no illusions of the task Aston Martin faces.
“I think the new factory is now completed. Also, the new wind tunnel is going to be open soon.
“Andy Cowell, I think, did change already some of the weaknesses that he found in the team. We have trust on the new management.
“Things are moving in the right direction, so I’m happy for that.
“But in Formula 1, there are not many miracles. You need to be passionate, you need to find that sweet spot in the car, you need to find that upgrade that really awakes everything in these ground-effect cars as McLaren improved last year, started last, and then scored podiums by the mid-season.
“We need to learn from them. This is a good example of how things can be done.
“We will try to reset this winter and come back stronger.”
Taking inspiration from McLaren
December 2024 was a far from cry from March the previous year: Aston Martin and Alonso were the biggest threat to Red Bull Racing in the early part of the season, while McLaren sat bottom of the Constructors’ Championship.
McLaren had struggled until Austria. An updated package at the Red Bull Ring, plus further gains with updates at Silverstone and Singapore transformed their season.
They overhauled Aston Martin as the Silverstone-based team went backwards, finishing 22 points ahead thanks to 9 podiums from Silverstone through to São Paulo.
As McLaren won their first Constructors’ Championship in 26 years at Abu Dhabi last Sunday, Aston Martin were left trailing by a whooping 572 points as Alonso was heavily limited by a car that that was very tricky to drive.
However, the remarkable turnaround by McLaren can be a source of inspiration for Aston Martin, says the Spaniard.
“Yes [we can take inspiration].
“The biggest change was last year. They did not do much in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022.
“They did not do much in 2023 until Austria when they were near the podium.
“In Austria, they introduced a package, that they gained six, seven tenths or whatever, and that was the beginning of a series of packages that put the car as the fastest, eventually.
“So that Austria package, if we want to call it [that], this is something that we need to work on.”
