Fernando Alonso “doesn’t surprise” Aston Martin engineer following intense battle in Austria

Two-time F1 champion Fernando Alonso finished P7 at the 2025 Austrian GP after starting the race in P11. The Spaniard held off the F1 rookie Gabriel Bortoleto in the closing moments of the race to bring home a good haul of points for the Silverstone-based team. Aston Martin’s trackside operations director, Mike Krack, came out and hailed Alonso's performance at the Red Bull Ring.

The Aston Martin looked strong during the practice sessions, but as the temperatures rose for the qualifying, both Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso struggled and had to use three sets of soft tires. While Alonso made it to Q2, Stroll was eliminated in Q1. The Spaniard barely missed out on Q3 and started the race in P11.

Following Max Verstappen's crash with Kimi Antonelli on Lap 1, Fernando Alonso ran P10 and gained another position following Alex Albon’s DNF. While the likes of Gabriel Bortoleto, ahead of Alonso, opted for a two-stop strategy, the Spaniard stayed out longer on the first set of medium and went for a one-stop strategy.

Fernando Alonso was on Liam Lawson’s gearbox for the second stint on the hard tires and optimised the DRS. Yet, Gabriel Bortoleto caught up with the Spaniard for the final 3 laps of the race, but Alonso was able to defend his position, and the blue flags for the race leader on the final lap further helped his cause.

F1 Grand Prix of Austria - Source: Getty

Former Aston Martin Team Principal and current Trackside Operations Director Mike Krack came forward to reflect on Fernando Alonso's strategy and performance at the Austrian GP, which was initially deemed “impossible.”

“Honestly, Fernando does not surprise me, we know what we have. It's impressive how he continues to perform, other drivers at this point in his career are not at the same level. Also challenging on the track, because he demands a lot but also demands a lot from the team. But all that leads us to become a better team,” said Mike Krack. (via AS)

“I was very calm, these are the situations in which you can trust him one hundred percent. You don't have to give him any advice, you leave him alone and he knows what he's doing. He did it perfectly with the DRS, with the blue flag. It was really well managed,” he added.

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Fernando Alonso on his fight with Gabriel Bortoleto at the Austrian GP

Gabriel Bortoleto is a driver managed by Fernando Alonso, and the two went head-to-head at the Austrian GP. The Spaniard was passed by the Sauber driver momentarily on the straight, before Alonso braked early for a better exit and passed the F1 rookie. The final lap of the battle involved Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri catching up to them, as the McLaren drivers fought for the race win, and blue flags were shown to Bortoleto and Alonso.

Speaking about the battle with the Sauber driver, Fernando Alonso said,

“I mean, I didn't want to pass Lando, but I could not stay just behind Lando, because then Gabi would pass me, so I had to, you know, try different moves to confuse a little bit Gabi on what I was doing, and it worked fine.”

After the race, Alonso was the first to congratulate Bortoleto on the P8 finish as the rookie scored his first points in F1.