Fernando Alonso secured a third consecutive top 10 finish for Aston Martin in Austria, validating the team’s progress since their Imola update package.
Even when the Spaniard has missed out on points, such as Imola and Monaco, it was misfortune – rather than a lack of performance – that proved costly.
Still, Aston Martin can be satisfied with their upward trajectory in 2025 so far.
For a team that failed to make any meaningful progress throughout last season, their improvements with the AMR25 are noteworthy.
However, there are still more updates on the way for Aston Martin in the coming weeks.
Aston Martin deliver first successful upgrades in two years
It was only two years ago that Alonso was regularly finishing on the podium for Aston Martin.
What followed after the first eight rounds of 2023, however, was a dramatic and immensely frustrating spell for the team.
Only after their Imola upgrades did the Silverstone squad start climbing the field and achieve some accurate correlation between the wind tunnel and the track.
Still, Andy Cowell’s team are optimistic they can make further improvements.
Sauber’s update package in Spain, which has catapulted them to the front of the midfield, is evidence of how quickly teams can change their fortunes.
With margins across the field so close, two or three tenths can be transformative.
It is partly because of this that Adrian Newey’s arrival in early March was accompanied by speculation about his potential to influence Aston Martin’s 2025 package.
On paper, modest gains in terms of pure performance can move a team several places in the pecking order.
Although his impact on the AMR25 is understood to be minimal, the team’s next updates will be the product of work in their new wind tunnel and simulator – and thus help confirm the effectiveness of their development tools ahead of 2026.
Final updates before 2026 switch
Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll have given mixed feedback about the Silverstone team’s recent changes.
Alonso has been slightly more positive about the AMR25’s evolution, whilst the Canadian claims the car feels largely unchanged post-upgrade.
Despite this discrepancy, both drivers insist the car is still unpredictable and difficult to handle.
This suggests there is still lap time on the table for Aston Martin to unlock with their next updates.
Across the field, teams are beginning to shift their focus from this season to the upcoming 2026 regulations.
In this sense, any relative improvements in performance should be retained until the end of the season.
As a result, there is additional pressure on teams to avoid the correlation traps that have cost so many teams under these regulations.
Speaking post-race in Austria, Fernando Alonso confirmed that Aston Martin have a few more upgrades in the pipeline:
“We need to improve, in Silverstone some new parts will arrive that we will evaluate – hopefully in Spa as well.
“It will be an important second half of the season, everything is very close and no team is last.
“Sauber have gone to the top of the midfield.
“So this makes race weekends very different.”
Main photo: Steven Tee/LAT Images (via Aston Martin media gallery)
