Fernando Alonso delivered a stunning performance today, claiming a strong P5 position for Aston Martin in the qualifying session of the 2025 F1 Imola GP. His teammate, Lance Stroll, will start close behind in P8, marking an impressive result for the Silverstone-based team.
Significant upgrades boosted AMR25 performance
As is customary, Aston Martin introduced significant upgrades during the first European leg of the season, initially fitted exclusively to Stroll’s car during Friday practice. These substantial improvements, combined with an aggressive tyre strategy, helped Alonso comfortably advance to Q3 and ultimately secure a solid fifth place on the grid for tomorrow’s race.
A welcome result after a tough start to the season for Alonso
After a challenging start to the season with no points scored so far, Alonso described getting “both cars in Q3” as an unexpected but welcome boost for the team. When asked if this result had exceeded his expectations earlier in the day, Alonso laughed and admitted, “No, I didn’t. I think it’s a little bit better than expected.”
An hopeful yet cautious Alonso
Despite this positive outcome, the two-time world champion maintained a pragmatic perspective. He noted that the AMR25 “felt competitive” around Imola but urged caution regarding race pace. “Let’s see tomorrow,” he said. “Definitely, the new parts we brought here are performing well. We saw that yesterday when we tested them. Today is a confirmation.”
While pleased with the car’s performance at Imola, Alonso emphasized the need for realism moving forward onto other circuits: “At the same time, we need to keep our feet on the ground. Maybe Imola is a good track for us, and we need to wait for different tracks.”
Alonso nevertheless praised the team’s efforts, expressing pride in their hard work: “But happy for the team. Proud of them. They’ve been working very hard.”
He is hopeful that the upgrades will bring renewed motivation to Aston Martin.
Bold tyre strategy paid off
Aston Martin employed a somewhat unconventional tyre strategy, particularly in Q3, which proved advantageous. “Let’s see tomorrow. I think we were competitive on the soft tyre. We were doing one one soft and one medium in each quali[fying] session”, he explained.
Alonso notably used the medium compound tyre for his final flying lap, whereas most competitors opted for softs. “Because of that, we didn’t know which tyre was faster. We opted to run both compounds in all the sessions. Like that, you cover all the alternatives.”
This bold strategy underlined the AMR25’s overall speed around Imola. “I think on both runs we were always progressing through qualifying. I think we were generally fast today. We need to confirm tomorrow.”
If Fernando Alonso can convert his P5 starting position into a points finish in the Imola GP, this will be a tremendous result for Aston Martin that find themselves in a dire situation with only 14 points in the Constructors’ championship.
