Aston Martin rejects claims of Alonso strategy favouritism

Aston Martin has pushed back against suggestions that Fernando Alonso is being disadvantaged by flawed or unfair race strategies.

The 44-year-old Spaniard showed eye-catching pace in Friday practice at Zandvoort, but qualifying brought only tenth on the grid. The race then left him utterly fuming, with Alonso crossing the line a frustrated eighth. Adding insult, teammate Lance Stroll, despite crashing in practice and again in qualifying before lining up last, managed to beat Alonso to the flag.

Similar incidents have happened before in 2025, fuelling the veteran’s suspicion that his tactics are repeatedly the ones that misfire. Mid-race, Alonso’s fury boiled over on team radio as he shouted at his engineer and accused the pit wall of having "forgotten" him.

"We finished behind a Williams, who struggled a bit this weekend, behind a Haas, who were very slow, and behind my teammate, who started last and still finished ahead of me," Alonso told El Mundo Deportivo.

"So we've done something really different with my strategy to finish like this. They're doing something with the strategy that we haven't yet understood."

But team principal Andy Cowell dismissed talk of bias. "The strategy is done centrally because there's only one box, so you have to make sure you consider it from the team's perspective," he explained.

Sporting director Mike Krack added with a smile: "Fernando was angry with the race, with us, and with everyone else. "We can't do anything in these situations. We have to accept it as it is and try to find the best solution with the new limiting conditions."