Fernando Alonso Sees ‘Amazing’ Aston Martin Progress After 3-Second Improvement

Fernando Alonso sees gap closing from the leader to Aston Martin in F1 Dutch GP qualifying, but there is more to optimise, especially on the power unit side.

Having made it in Q2 in Hungary, both Aston Martin cars were knocked out in Q1 in F1 Dutch GP qualifying, finishing behind Williams and one Haas car. Alonso was not too happy with the traffic which probably cost him few tenths here and there, but the larger picture was not that for him.

The Spaniard was looking at the gap from the leader in Q1. From about 4-5 seconds, he sees that they gap is now down to around a second in two races, which is a big step after the chassis and power unit update. He notes that they have to continue to improve considering the competitiveness in F1.

“Yeah, I mean, in Budapest we were in Q2 and here we were like one tenth or something like that,” said Alonso to media in F1 Dutch GP. “This is the minimum gap to the leader, Piastri, P1 in Q1 was 1.3s in front of us. We used to be 4.5s average on the gap to the leader, so we improved three seconds in two races.

“So, this is amazing, everything is working as expected, but this is a tough sport. You need always to keep improving.” When asked if the further gain will come from improving drivability, Alonso reckons there is not much they can do from trackside.

The step has to come from Silverstone and mainly Japan on the engine side. He hopes that by Monza, they can take another step on the power unit side. Both Aston Martin and Honda noted that they are going to bring further upgrades in the next few races, as they ready themselves for F1 2027.

“It is some lap time coming from the drivability improvement,” continued Alonso. “Unfortunately, here on the track side, there is not much we can do. We need to rely on some big changes in the factory or software or whatever is needed. And this has to come from Japan, so it’s not from one day to the next.

“It’s more towards probably Monza where we need to find another step there. And, yeah, there are a couple of tenths to optimize in the package.” Looking at the race in F1 Dutch GP, Alonso is optimistic about the race pace and Aston Martin’s ability of relying on chassis grip rather than tyre.

This is what helps them more in the races when its F1 rivals struggle with grip issues caused by the tyre. This also helps them in stretching their stints, as seen in races. “Let’s see, I think, yeah, normally we are a little bit better on the race pace because our chassis is very good,” said Alonso.

“And when the people have old tyres, or older tyres in the race, we rely more on our good grip from the chassis and we don’t rely so much on the tyres’ grip. So, we can do a better job, but, yeah, at the same time, we cannot overtake on the straight, so we are in a difficult position there, but we try our best.”