Why Aston Martin’s Hungary F1 fightback is “concerning” to Alonso

Aston Martin had its most successful weekend of the 2025 Formula 1 season at the Hungarian Grand Prix, but is at a loss to explain why it happened.

One week prior, Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll locked out the back row at Spa-Francorchamps, but at the Hungaroring they claimed fifth and sixth on the grid – their best result since they qualified respectively fourth and third at the 2023 Brazilian GP. But this time, they were barely one tenth away from pole position.

This was no fluke; although they were never in contention for victory or even a podium, they did finish fifth and seventh in Hungary, again their best result since Sao Paulo 2023 (third and fifth).

The feeling among the team might best be described as puzzled relief, as it couldn’t explain how it achieved such a tour de force.

“It is a surprise, definitely it is a surprise. It’s a nice surprise,” Alonso pondered. “The good thing is that we were competitive and we were fast. The concerning thing is that we don’t know why.

“We need this week at the factory [before the mandatory summer shutdown] to analyse exactly what are the differences between Spa and Hungary, what are the differences on the car as well, on the set-up, on the aero devices that we were racing with.

“Obviously, the main theme for us was the front wing that was new this weekend. If that front wing gives us that much performance, that’s very good news, but I think that has to be understood at the moment.”

The new high-downforce front wing was expected to deliver performance on the twisty Hungaroring track, but arguably not that much. Another difference that came into play was the switch back to the former Imola-spec floor, though Alonso has lauded perfect correlation from the simulator for all upgrades, including the newer floor.

“Everything that we brought to the track is delivering exactly what the wind tunnel was saying,” he claimed. “Whatever we want to fit in any weekend, we know what the car will deliver.”

So the main factor, as suggested by the Spanish veteran, may be track characteristics. Spa-Francorchamps mainly has long straights interspersed with all kinds of corners, including several high-speed curves, making it one of the fastest circuits on the calendar. The Hungaroring, meanwhile, is the second-slowest layout on the F1 calendar due to its series of medium-speed and slow corners.

Morale is up, but performance must not slump back down

The Belgian GP result was positive in several ways, with those 16 points – compared to the 36 collected over the first 13 grands prix of the year – hauling Aston from eighth to sixth in the constructors’ championship. Equally importantly, team morale was boosted.

“I would not lie, I was worried, I was concerned for the second part of the year,” Alonso admitted, opening up more than he used to about Aston Martin’s struggles, as he previously refrained from delving into how serious the situation was for such an ambitious outfit – though his tone and demeanour never quite concealed his opinion.

Lance Stroll, Aston Martin Racing, Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing

Photo by: Steven Tee / LAT Images via Getty Images

“We were a little bit down in terms of motivation, everyone in the team, and these seven days, I think it changes 180 degrees.”

Motivation may have drastically improved, but Aston Martin team bosses are aware the team needs to avoid slumping back to Q1 level, even with the 2026 car being the priority ahead of F1’s new technical era – meaning new recruit Adrian Newey refrains from working on the AMR25 at all.

“You cannot jump, normally, from the back of the midfield to the front of the midfield within seven days,” chief trackside officer Mike Krack acknowledged.

“We need to be realistic. We had very difficult races before, not only Spa. It does not mean that we have managed a complete turnaround. I think it’s probably also a bit circumstantial. The fight in the midfield will continue, I’m sure.”

The next stage in the midfield battle will be the Dutch GP at the end of the month, on the slightly faster but also narrow and twisty Zandvoort track, which will confirm or disprove the AMR25’s appetency for such circuits.

“The first test will be Zandvoort. Again, maximum downforce in Zandvoort,” Alonso pointed out. “We performed well in the last few years there, so hopefully we have both cars in the points again.”

The two-time F1 champion finished second in the 2023 running of the race, but won’t be expected to repeat such a result this time around.

Additional reporting by Oleg Karpov and Filip Cleeren