Alonso Warns Aston Martin May Need to Adjust to Life Outside the Points in 2025 After… Read
Fernando Alonso finished just outside the points in the 2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, placing 11th after a dramatic and hard-fought race. Despite the result, Alonso admitted that Aston Martin still has a lot of work to do if they hope to compete at the front of the grid this season.
Starting from 13th on the medium compound tyres, Alonso made some early progress during the opening laps. However, he struggled to maintain those gains as faster cars began to overtake him. Over the course of the race, he slipped back, and by the chequered flag, he was in 12th. Fortunately, a 10-second time penalty for Liam Lawson for an off-track overtake moved Alonso up one place into P11.
Despite narrowly missing out on a points finish, Alonso was realistic about the team’s performance. “We need a lot of performance,” he said. “We finished P11 only because of other drivers’ misfortunes—Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly had contact on Lap 1, and Liam got a penalty. Otherwise, we’d have been 14th.” He acknowledged giving everything he had on track but admitted the car lacked the pace needed to fight with those ahead. “P11 is the worst position. We need to get used to it—it’s going to be hard to score points this year.”
A notable moment in Alonso’s race came during a near-collision with his protégé, Gabriel Bortoleto. While Alonso attempted a risky overtake on the outside as Bortoleto battled Liam Lawson, the Brazilian appeared unaware of Alonso’s move. The two cars made slight contact, forcing Alonso off-track to avoid a bigger incident. Alonso explained that he had to quickly give the position back to avoid receiving a penalty since he didn’t complete the corner.
“It was close,” Alonso commented on the incident. “I chose to go on the outside, which carried some risk. He didn’t see me, and I had to avoid him. I gave the place back because I didn’t make the corner and wanted to avoid any penalty.”
Meanwhile, teammate Lance Stroll had a tough race himself. He started on the hard compound tyres and ran the longest opening stint in the field, hoping a Safety Car would work in his favor. However, with no interruptions, he was forced to pit and dropped down the order, ultimately finishing 16th.
“We were trying to hold position with dead tyres and hoped for a Safety Car,” said Stroll. “That was our only shot to salvage something, but it didn’t happen.”
The weekend served as a tough reality check for Aston Martin as they confront a challenging 2025 season.
