Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso had a tough race at the rain-hit 2025 F1 Belgian GP. A heavy downpour delayed the start by over an hour. Alonso began from the pit lane after set-up changes and gained early by switching to slicks. But he got stuck in traffic, faded late, and finished 17th after a second stop.
Stroll started further up the grid but couldn’t make progress. He passed Hadjar early and ran in clean air for much of the race. Lacking the pace to challenge the midfield frontrunners, Stroll came home 14th. While McLaren scored a dominant 1–2, Stroll and Alonso left the F1 Belgian GP without points. Their strategy didn’t work, and changing conditions offered no boost for either driver.
Changing conditions and pit lane start hindered Alonso during the Belgian GP
The F1 Belgian GP proved difficult for Alonso and Aston Martin. With a pit lane start and a set-up not suited to the dry conditions, he found himself off the pace early. Despite recent upgrades, the car failed to deliver at Spa. Throughout the race, Alonso struggled to gain ground or challenge the midfield.
At certain tracks, the package may perform better, offering more potential. Other circuits will likely expose the car’s current weaknesses. Confidence in the team’s direction remained, but Alonso knew consistency and timing would be key. Scoring points depended on seizing the right moments.
“Yeah, I think so. I think it was not safe enough at the beginning, so we had to wait. But yeah, not any more showers during the race, so yeah, the full dry. It was not, you know, the optimal for our choices and our setup, starting from the pit lane. So yeah, we felt slow out there.
“Yeah, we will try to do the best we can. Some races will fit our package, some races not. And yeah, let’s try to score in the opportunities.”
Delay start of the F1 Belgian GP justified according to the Spaniard
Alonso supported the FIA’s decision to delay the start of the F1 Belgian GP. He believed visibility at the original start time made racing unsafe. That concern had already been discussed in the drivers’ briefing on Friday. For Alonso, the delay was justified, and the timing of the eventual restart was appropriate.
He emphasised the importance of safety over rushing into poor conditions. Despite the frustration of waiting, he felt the officials made the correct call. In his view, the race began only once conditions met the minimum standard for visibility and control.
“We know that safety is priority, we even spoke about that on Friday, at the previous briefing. And I think at the beginning it was not raceable conditions with visibility, so I think the race started at the right time, to be honest.”
Points were “a bit out of reach” in Spa for Stroll
Stroll admitted points were never really within reach at Spa. He felt the car lacked the pace to challenge, despite some progress over the weekend. The team executed their strategy as best they could, and Stroll believed they got everything possible from the race. While frustrated not to finish higher, he accepted that 14th was a fair result given the car’s limitations. The team will look ahead, aiming to improve where the package allows.
“Yeah, I mean that’s what we had today so Yeah, we want to you know be in the points, but today it was a bit out of reach in terms of the way. Yeah, we did what we could, So yeah, I think we got Probably everything out of it today.”
