“Midfield”: Fernando Alonso drops cold verdict on Aston Martin’s results in the last three races

Fernando Alonso believes Aston Martin is unlikely to achieve the kind of success Alpine enjoyed with their double podium in Brazil as the team prepares for the Las Vegas GP. Speaking to media, including Sportskeeda, ahead of the race weekend, the Spanish champion expressed doubts about Aston Martin’s ability to move beyond the midfield, let alone contend for podium finishes.

As the season nears its conclusion, Aston Martin is poised to wrap up a challenging year since their rebranding in 2022. For the first time under the British car brand’s name, neither of its drivers has reached the podium. Currently fifth in the Constructors’ Championship, the team has struggled to deliver consistent performance improvements to their car.

Alonso acknowledged the difficulty of aiming for top results in the final three races and emphasized that the team would focus on maximizing results in the remaining triple-header. He described their realistic target in Las Vegas as securing strong midfield finishes rather than replicating podium successes like Alpine’s recent performance.

Asked by Sportskeeda if Aston Martin could get opportunities in Las Vegas like Alpine in Brazil, Fernando Alonso said:

“No, midfield, midfield. I don't think that we can fight for podiums this year in any race, I mean it has to be a special scenario as it was in Brazil for some cars. But no I think to be in the points that will be the target for the next races and maybe arguably one of the best opportunities will be here in Vegas better than Qatar and Abu Dhabi.”

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Fernando Alonso says incompetent cars have led to poor public judgment of Lance Stroll

Fernando Alonso has defended Lance Stroll, attributing the harsh judgments of the Canadian driver’s Formula 1 career to the underperforming cars he has been forced to drive. The Spanish two-time world champion believes that while Stroll’s success in the junior categories is clear evidence of his talent, the 25-year-old has struggled to replicate similar results in F1 due to inadequate equipment.

Alonso cited the example of Stoffel Vandoorne, his former teammate at McLaren, who also excelled in the junior series but struggled to maintain an F1 seat due to underperforming cars. Vandoorne, now a reserve driver for Aston Martin, also competes full-time in Formula E with Maserati and in the World Endurance Championship with Peugeot.

The veteran driver argued that Stroll has often been misunderstood by the public, stressing that the Canadian remains a talented and ambitious driver despite the challenges. Alonso’s support for Stroll reflects his belief that the right tools, rather than a lack of ability, have hindered the Canadian’s success in F1.

Asked if Stroll was misunderstood in the public domain, Fernando Alonso said:

“I think the public eye will be always harder than what they should be. This is the world we are living in. He was winning every single category before joining Formula 1. And he had some good performance in Formula 1 and some bad performance in Formula 1 as everyone does and the unlucky thing for him is that he raced with uncompetitive cars for 90 % of his career, which I think is brutal for any driver you know. And with so many examples in the past, that if you don’t have a competitive car you have very short stay in Formula 1, you know, an example is our reserve driver here, you know, Stoffel.”

“A very talented driver, winning Formula 3, winning Formula 2, winning everything in karting, and then you get the uncompetitive car, and after two years, maybe you don't race in Formula 1 anymore, and you know. Lance had uncompetitive cars for many years, and he's still happy to keep committing and dreaming of having a competitive car one day. So this is some of the mission that we all have in Aston Martin as well you know to have a competitive car. And I don't know if I will benefit from that because as I said I will not drive forever but I hope he can have one day a competitive car and change the opinion of many.”

Fernando Alonso scored 62 points in 2024, while Lance Stroll accumulated 24 points for Aston Martin. Despite this, the Silverstone-based team remains comfortably in fifth place in the Constructors’ Championship, with no immediate challenge for that position as they head into the final triple-header of the season. However, Aston Martin is far from replicating their standout 2023 form, when Alonso secured eight podiums for the team.

In a recent development, Aston Martin announced that their Technical Director, Dan Fallows, will step down from his role at the end of the year. Despite this change, the former Red Bull aerodynamicist will continue to contribute to the Aston Martin group in an undisclosed capacity. This marks a significant shift within the team as they aim to address their performance challenges moving forward.