Aston Martin acknowledged Fernando Alonso’s comments about the team’s lack of pace at the 2025 US Grand Prix in Austin. Alonso said the team was the ninth fastest on race day despite scoring one point at Circuit of the Americas.
While the Spaniard highlighted their struggles in race trim, Chief Trackside Officer Mike Krack offered a more measured response. He pointed to tyre choices and traffic as major factors shaping the final result.
“It’s a sprint weekend so there is a little bit of a mix and the people getting used to some things, rookies as well – they need to learn the track,” Alonso said after the sprint race and qualifying session on Saturday.
“So, I don’t know, in all our metrics we are the eighth fastest team and yesterday [Friday] we were 6th and 10th [actually team-mate Lance Stroll was 14th in sprint qualifying]. So, happy in that regard but I don’t think that this is a particularly good weekend for the Aston.”
According to Alonso, their strong performance in qualifying and early sessions was misleading. The C1 hard tyre was much slower than the medium compound, affecting both pace and strategy.
Race Execution Exposed the Gap
After losing places at the start, Fernando Alonso recovered when Carlos Sainz collided with Kimi Antonelli, triggering a virtual safety car. Once the race resumed, Aston Martin’s lack of long-run pace became clear.
“We were slow compared to the cars in front of us and we were holding the Racing Bull [of Liam Lawson] behind us,” Alonso said.
“They were within one second of us the whole race, so that means they had more pace than us. Yep, we struggled a little bit more on the race than any other session on the weekend. We seem a little bit faster in qualifying and less competitive in the race. We need to improve that for the last five races.”
Alonso eventually crossed the line in tenth, holding off Lawson, but admitted the result flattered their true speed.
“Probably we are ninth today,” he said. “Because I don’t feel who is the ninth and the tenth team. I think Alpine maybe is the one that is struggling more but after Alpine, I don’t know.
Haas is clearly in front of us, with Ollie’s very strong race. Sauber for sure in front, Williams in another league. There are not many teams behind us at the moment. To be tenth and score one point is a good result but we need to get better for Mexico.”
Aston Martin’s Strategic Perspective
Team boss Mike Krack stressed that Alonso’s assessment must be seen in context, emphasizing that different strategies and tyre selections created an uneven playing field.
“The analysis is something we need to look at in detail,” said Krack. “Because some people run with soft tyres, some people run with hard tyres, some people run with medium tyres.
“I think we need to go through these numbers, see who has traffic, who has DRS and all these kinds of things, before you can really say where you are in the pace.”
Krack also pointed out that Stroll and Charles Leclerc extended their soft tyre stints to execute a one-stop strategy, proving there was more nuance behind the team’s pace than the finishing order suggested.
“There are races, there are circuits, where we are performing better, there are circuits where the car has strengths and weaknesses, like every other car. There are weekends, like in Budapest, where it is better suited and there are weekends, like in Baku, where it was not.
“I think that is the challenge over the season, to get the maximum out of it and score whenever you can and do as best as you can. The analysis will be done and then we will go over it.”
Looking Ahead to Mexico
Alonso’s remarks underline Aston Martin’s position in the midfield battle. Krack’s response shows the team believes the situation is more complex than rankings.
With Haas, Sauber, and Williams proving strong rivals, Aston Martin will look to improve both race pace and tyre management before the Mexican Grand Prix, where Alonso hopes to fight further up the order.
Stay tuned for all the latest Sports News, follow SportsNewsTime on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram