Eleventh place in Pit Debrief’s 2025 F1 Driver Rankings goes to two-time world champion Fernando Alonso. After yet another season defined by man versus machine and extracting blood from stone, Alonso once again makes a compelling case as the standout driver of the midfield in 2025.
On paper, the numbers are modest. Alonso finished 10th in the Drivers’ Championship with 56 points, while Aston Martin slipped to seventh in the Constructors’ standings on 89 points. That represents a sharp regression from the podium-regular form of 2023 and early 2024. The #14 driver scored 63% of the team’s tally and has beaten his teammate, Lance Stroll on every comparable metric.
Aston Martin’s earliest check of reality
Heading into the 2025 season, expectations of a breakthrough were minimal for both Aston Martin and Fernando Alonso. It was already clear that the AMR25 would run largely without the influence of Adrian Newey until the very end of the year. Any lingering optimism was quickly extinguished in Melbourne, where it became apparent that even those modest expectations had been overly generous.
The season’s opening salvos were nothing short of disastrous, eight consecutive point-less rounds saw Alonso retire in Australia, China, and Monaco (when heading for P6), whilst the team collectively forgot how to extract one-lap pace. Stroll, on the other hand, was collecting point finishes in 4 out of the eight races.
Monaco was a punch in the gut. Alonso was running comfortably inside the points when a power failure forced him to park the car, wiping out what should have been a P6 result. His breakthrough finally came on home soil, where he scored his first points of the season with a ninth-place finish. He managed to sustain this run until the calendar reached Belgium.
Spa, however, exposed Aston Martin at its weakest. The AMR25’s drag-heavy nature was brutally ill-suited to the circuit, and both cars were dumped out in Q1, slowest of all. The race offered no redemption either, with Alonso salvaging a distant 17th in what stood his lowest of 2025. Relief followed swiftly in Hungary, where a well-timed upgrade shifted the balance just enough in Aston Martin’s favour.
Fernando Alonso’s heroics
If there was one constant in his campaign, it was Saturday excellence. Alonso’s qualifying performance remained his defining strength. He reached Q3 on 13 occasions and utterly dismantled Stroll across the season, entirely sweeping the qualifying head-to-head, a feat that was matched by only Max Verstappen.
The average gap, hovered around two tenths, was among the largest intra-team margins on the grid. Even as Aston Martin’s pace ebbed away relative to an improving midfield, Alonso continued to extract everything available in a single lap.
Hungary’s package finally clicked, and Alonso produced his most complete weekend of the season. Qualifying fifth, he converted that position into a P5 finish, Aston Martin’s best result of the year. Alonso notched up ten top-10 finishes with some stellar drives in Canada, Singapore and Qatar, plus solid hauls late in the year including sixth in Abu Dhabi.
Cracks in Alonso’s armour
Perfection, however, eluded even Alonso. Five DNFs, mechanical and self-inflicted, undermined his points haul, whilst rare driver errors hinted at frustration with the machinery. Alonso mocked that his AMR25 was possessed by some evil spirits and could not wait to get rid of it after Abu Dhabi.
The early phase of the year was particularly grim. He failed to score in the opening eight rounds. Alonso was frequently outscored by his teammate during this stretch which slightly impacted his stocks, thus missing the top ten in our rankings.
Even Alonso admitted the team had to “get used” to not scoring. There were also rare but notable driver errors. A crash in Australia and a spin in Qatar, albeit one he recovered from to finish seventh, fed into the recurring age narrative.
Aston Martin’s biggest downfall
Aston Martin were comfortably the fifth fastest team in the last two years and were consistent point scorers. However, come 2025, the team witnessed their worst season since 2022. The broader problem was development. While Aston Martin introduced upgrades, rivals.
At the tail end of the season, Newey was appointed as the team principal and the team were back in the top 10 for the final two races. Alonso quipped that it was Newey’s touch that revived the AMR25.
The 2026 gambit
While Alonso said it partly in jest, there is no escaping the reality that Adrian Newey’s influence on the 2026 car will be decisive. With his contract running through the end of that season, Alonso has made it clear he will judge his future on how competitive Aston Martin truly becomes. Speaking to Spanish outlet AS, he said:
“If the car goes badly, there is a chance that it will continue for another year to end up with a good taste in the mouth. If the car did well, 2026 is likely to be my last year.”
Paddock whispers suggest that Honda are very confident in their power unit. When paired with Newey’s design pedigree, Aston Martin could finally emerge as genuine front-runners. If that promise materialises, 2026 may yet offer Alonso one last chance to remind the world of his excellence.
