Fernando Alonso has called for improvements to Aston Martin’s car performance after… Read more
Fernando Alonso has called for improvements to Aston Martin’s car performance after narrowly missing out on points at the Japanese Grand Prix, finishing 11th. Despite his strong efforts, the result marked a challenging weekend for the Spaniard, who remains one of five drivers yet to score a point in 2025.
Alonso’s race began with some excitement as he engaged in an early battle with Pierre Gasly. He successfully passed the French driver and moved into 11th place. However, despite his best attempts, overtaking proved difficult at the Suzuka circuit, and he couldn’t make any further progress. “It was a difficult race today and despite our best efforts we missed out on the points,” Alonso said post-race.
He noted that he had been closely following Gasly in the first half of the race and Yuki Tsunoda in the latter stages, highlighting how crucial it was to avoid making any mistakes. Suzuka, he acknowledged, is a fantastic track but not easy for overtaking. Alonso emphasized the need for improvements in the car’s performance to become more competitive moving forward and expressed his anticipation for upcoming developments.
Meanwhile, Alonso’s teammate Lance Stroll had a far more difficult weekend in Japan. The Canadian finished last after a challenging race where he was one of the first drivers to pit, choosing to start on soft tires from the back of the grid. Unfortunately, his strategy didn’t pay off, and he was forced into a second pit stop later, while most of the other drivers managed to complete the race with a single stop. This left Stroll trailing behind the field, ending the race in last place.
Despite his disappointing result, Stroll remained optimistic. He explained that his race had been used by the team to gather valuable data, particularly in terms of setup strategies for future races, including the upcoming Bahrain Grand Prix. “Ultimately there wasn’t much we could do today – we tried to make up some positions at the start, but it wasn’t possible,” Stroll reflected. He acknowledged that the team had used the race as a learning opportunity and hoped that the lessons learned would help them improve in the next race.
Stroll has had some success this season, with a solid P6 finish in the wet conditions of Melbourne and a ninth-place finish in China, although the latter was due to three disqualifications. The Canadian will be hoping for a much better result in Bahrain, where Aston Martin will be eager to put their struggles in Japan behind them.
