Alonso lifts Aston as Red Bull woes linger

McLaren remained the clear F1 pacesetter at Zandvoort on Friday, but the surprise of the day was Aston Martin emerging as best of the rest.

Fernando Alonso’s pace was eye-catching, with Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko observing of the Aston Martin car: “After Budapest, something changed that is really effective.”

Williams driver Carlos Sainz also noted Aston’s step forward. “In Hungary, they were close to pole position,” he said. “I don’t know if they’re at McLaren’s level, but they’re fighting with Ferrari, Mercedes, and Red Bull in qualifying.” N

ot everything went smoothly for the green team, however, as Lance Stroll crashed heavily. Former F1 racer Robert Doornbos told Ziggo Sport: “I saw him in the paddock afterwards on the scooter and he looked bored again. It’s really sloppy how he wrote off the whole car.”

Local hero Max Verstappen also made a rare error, running into the gravel just after a practice start. “Over-motivated,” Marko smirked, but Verstappen was more concerned by Red Bull’s continued lack of pace relative to McLaren.

Marko claimed: “The problems in Hungary had a different origin. We’ve solved that.” The quadruple world champion disagreed. “We still have the same problems. We’ve tried a lot of things with the car, but that doesn’t change the fundamental difficulties.”

As for Sunday, Alonso doubts anyone can stop McLaren. “No way! No, the reality is that McLaren is out of reach, for us and for everyone else,” he admitted.

Still, the 44-year-old is encouraged by Aston’s more measured approach to development. “We’ve secretly decided to make Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull a little nervous,” Alonso smiled.

“We’re in a good place with them, and we want to stay there. “What also gives me encouragement is that we understand the car quite well now, our tools are working. This is all very important preparation for 2026, when we’ll be racing with the new cars.”

He added there was no excuse for past mistakes. “You learn from mistakes and things that didn’t work, but I don’t think it was right to keep bringing updates that don’t work in the end, and even if we learn from that, that shouldn’t really happen. This is Formula 1, not a testing academy. You have to deliver.”