Aston Martin End of Year Report: A compromised season ahead of big plans for 2026

Written by Jason Sharp, Edited by Meghana Sree

With another year of Formula One action in the books, our writers review each F1 team’s 2025 campaign and assess their performance across the season. Aston Martin endured an underwhelming season, with their sole focus being 2026. Here’s their end of year report.

Aston Martin finished seventh in the Constructors' Championship | Credit: Formula One

After the signing of Adrian Newey being announced in September 2024, it could only be a matter of waiting for Aston Martin, who continued their declining trajectory from P5 in the Constructor’s Championship in 2024 to P7 in 2025.

Sticking with the lineup of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll for the third consecutive year, the pair amassed only 89 points combined as the mid-field became much tighter with Williams and Racing Bulls having the edge. 

While Stroll claimed points in the opening two races, it was clear that there was a lack of race pace and high tyre degradation, so the Silverstone based team had to settle for the lower end of the points table on a good day. 

Lance Stroll had a strong start to the season | Credit: Formula One

There were updates for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix in Imola, which improved the team’s form, and Alonso was finally able to start scoring points from the Spanish Grand Prix onwards, eight rounds after suffering his worst start to a Formula One season since his rookie year in 2001. 

By the season's end, points were a regular occurrence but not quite enough to climb the order. A lack of consistency and subsequent Q1 exits from Stroll also proved costly. The Canadian driver finished the season 16th in the Drivers’ Championship with Alonso climbing up to 10th after a late-season run of points scoring.  

Drivers’ Head-to-Head Performance

Across qualifying sessions throughout the season, it was complete domination of 24-0 to Alonso. It was a similar story in sprint qualifying, with Stroll beating the 44-year-old just once at the Chinese Grand Prix. This is the joint biggest gap between teammates in 2025, matching the Red Bull pairing of Max Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda. 

Fernando Alonso led Stroll in all the head-to-head match-ups | Credit: Formula One

Across the races, it was more evenly matched with many more variables coming into effect such as accidents and mechanical failures. Stroll led Alonso in the championship in the first few rounds thanks to points finishes in Australia and China, while Alonso wouldn’t score until Spain. 

This changed by the season’s midpoint, and across the year it was 16-8 to the two-time world champion, who ended the season with 56 points to Stroll’s 33. 

Best Moments

Alonso in his typical style would extract the absolute maximum from the AMR25, with performances such as qualifying P6 in Monaco and P4 for the Qatar sprint. But ultimately the car’s limited race pace compared to the top teams would see him fall down the order come Sunday.

He did however secure Aston Martin’s best result of the season with P5 at the Hungarian Grand Prix, after a fantastic battle with Gabriel Bortoletto, the Sauber rookie whom he manages. 

Alonso had his first taste of points at his home race | Credit: Formula One

Stroll’s best result came at the chaotic Australian Grand Prix, the season opener in which he finished P6 — staying out of trouble and once again proving his excellent ability in wet conditions. 

Come the season finale in Abu Dhabi, the team scored their fourth double points finish of 2025, with Alonso in P6 and Stroll in P10. A well needed boost of morale going into the winter break. 

Worst Moments

Their season began with a crash from Alonso in Australia, but more disappointment was yet to come as the team had their worst ever performance to date in qualifying at the Belgian Grand Prix, with Alonso ending up P19 and Stroll P20. This was due to an excessively draggy car ill equipped for the long straights of Spa. Although not in as dramatic fashion, there were multiple weekends in which the AMR25 simply lacked pace. 

Alonso crashed out at the season opener in Australia | Credit: Formula One

Reliability also caused low points, a big one being Alonso’s retirement during the Monaco Grand Prix after a fantastic qualifying effort to put him sixth. A misfiring cylinder and sensor issues denied the possibility of his first points haul of the year. 

Later in the year, the United States Grand Prix sprint saw both cars retire due to crash damage. Alonso’s was caused by the carnage of Turn 1, in which he was an innocent victim of the headline incident between the two McLarens and Nico Hülkenberg. Further into the race, Stroll attempted a divebomb on Esteban Ocon from a long way back; the two collided and both of their races subsequently ended.  

Stroll also had to pull out of the Spanish Grand Prix due to ongoing complications with a wrist injury. However, the withdrawal happened after he qualified, leaving Aston Martin with only one car for the race.

Looking Ahead

Aston Martin arguably has the biggest expectations set on them for 2026. Despite their lacklustre performances throughout 2025, there will be a sense of cautious optimism ahead of the regulation reset. The prospects are incredibly exciting, and the team have made their intent clear to be championship contenders within the next couple of years. 

Adrian Newey takes on team principal duties for the first time in his career | Credit: Formula One

Going into 2026, they have Adrian Newey as Team Principal — the most successful F1 designer of all time at the helm. They have Honda as their engine supplier, whose sole focus will be on this team after their departure from Red Bull, and they have Alonso making one last bid for that third Drivers’ Championship which has eluded him for two decades. 

Newey and Alonso have both made their desire to work together clear over the years. The entire motorsport world will be watching in anticipation to see if this pair and Lawrence Stroll’s astronomical investment can bring Aston Martin’s world title goal to fruition.