Aston Martin duo Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll have offered their perspectives on their rather difficult race weekend at the F1 Bahrain GP.
After experiencing a bizarre steering wheel malfunction during the second hour of practice, Alonso made it to the second segment of qualifying and lined up P13 for Sunday’s Grand Prix. However, his evening under the lights in Sakhir turned out to be a disappointing one as he crossed the line in sixteenth place.
Meanwhile, after registering a Q1 exit for the second weekend in a row, Stroll took the chequered flag in eighteenth position despite making contact with Liam Lawson during the race.
Both Aston Martin drivers, however, moved up a position in the final classification after Nico Hülkenberg was disqualified from the F1 Bahrain GP due to excessive skid block wear.
Alonso admits outcome wouldn’t have improved even without the Safety Car
Speaking in the print media zone afterwards, Fernando Alonso reflected on their strategy and remarked that the AMR25 lacked pace regardless of their tyre choices at the Bahrain GP.
Stating how he had extended his opening stint on the mediums in favour of a short final stint, the Spaniard rued the ill-timed Safety Car and revealed that the last stint on the hard tyres rendered them uncompetitive in the closing stages of the race. At the same time, he admitted that they couldn’t have delivered a better result regardless of the inconvenient Safety Car.
“Yeah, we didn’t have the pace, so whatever tyre we chose, it seems it was not enough.
“Then I was extending a lot the mediums, even giving up some positions just to have a shorter, last stint.
“But then the Safety Car balanced for everybody the same thing and we all did the same number of laps.
“So, even over a small strategy risk, we didn’t compete at the end with the Safety Car, but I think it didn’t change anything.”
AMR25’s low-speed performance needs to be improved the most
Regarding the AMR25’s development, Fernando Alonso revealed that they expected to find themselves off the pace on a track with a number of low-speed sections like Bahrain.
Furthermore, the 43-year-old commented that scoring points in the races would become increasingly difficult unless they manage to improve the AMR25’s performance not only in low-speed corners but also in other sectors of a track.
“Yeah, we need some improvement. It was a difficult weekend.
“We expected to be slow here, with all the low speed sometimes in Bahrain. But yeah, we need to improve the car. It’s not only the low speed; I think you see it everywhere.
“Hopefully Jeddah will be a little bit more friendly to us, but scoring points seems a difficult issue.”
In terms of where the Aston Martin car needs to improve the most, Fernando Alonso referred to their poor performance at the F1 Bahrain GP and the previous race weekends and added that their focus specifically lies on taking a step forward in the low speed.
“I think, low speed. That was our weakest sector in Australia, Japan, and China. Bahrain is all about low speed and has been our least competitive weekend.
“So yeah, that’s where the focus has to be. We are trying everything we can, so it’s not that we are happy with the results. We just need to make it to the track as fast as possible.”
Asked to quantify their problem in low speed, Alonso noted how challenging it has been to navigate the car at the exit and through the mid-corner since last season.
“Tricky at the exit, but also mid-corner. It’s like the car is dying in the low speed.
“So yeah, a well-known problem that we had last year as well and we still have this year.”
Alonso expects better qualifying but points finish rather difficult in Jeddah
In reference to his strong qualifying performance in Saudi Arabia last year, Fernando Alonso responded that he is optimistic about the AMR25 faring better over a single lap on the high-speed Jeddah Corniche Circuit. However, he added that the likelihood of finishing in the top ten is low.
“Hope so. I qualified sixth, I think, here last year and maybe it’s not the case this year, so yeah.
“I really think Jeddah will be a little bit better for us, but I think to win the points is a little bit difficult for us at the moment.
“Top four teams [are] in another league and then there is always Haas, Williams, AlphaTauri [Racing Bulls] a little bit ahead of us as well.
“So you quickly have seven to eight teams and in those positions you cannot score points unless you are very, very lucky. Let’s see, we will try our best.”
Stroll corroborates low-speed struggles
With regard to whether Lawson colliding with him during the Safety Car period compromised his progress in the remaining laps of the race, Lance Stroll disclosed that the incident made little difference to his finishing spot at the Bahrain GP. Nevertheless, he admitted that it was a tough race for the team.
“[The collision] didn’t change much. It [the race] was not great.”
In respect of him suffering from ride height issues in qualifying and whether he was stuck with the incorrect set-up on Sunday since Aston Martin didn’t breach parc fermé at the F1 Bahrain GP, the Canadian driver clarified that they had managed to make some marginal changes and resolve the problem.
“No, we were able to change that stuff. Minimal changes. So the FIA let us do it.”
Asked if he finds the car tricky to drive in the low-speed corners as well, Stroll confirmed that his feelings are similar to those of his teammate.
“Yeah, for sure it’s really bad.”
Looking forward to Jeddah
In terms of whether there are any positive takeaways from the weekend in Bahrain, Lance Stroll responded, “Not much.”
Stating that he is unsure about the scope of their upcoming upgrades, the 26-year-old nonetheless revealed that he is looking forward to their weekend in Jeddah and whether they can make any progress on track.
“I don’t know if there is much development coming; we’ll see. Yeah, just see how we go next week.”
On the topic of both Aston Martin drivers reaching the final segment of qualifying last year and whether he expects them to perform well at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, given the abundance of high-speed corners, the Canadian responded that he doesn’t have the answers yet.
“Different type of season too. We’ll see. Different corners.”
Asked if Aston Martin have already shifted their focus towards 2026 after the difficult start to their 2025 F1 campaign, Stroll confirmed the speculation and added that they are simply trying their best to capitalise on every race weekend this year with the resources they have.
“Yeah, yeah, for sure. You know, [we] do what we can, every weekend.”
