After the 3-month winter break, the F1 75 Live Show and pre-season testing in Bahrain, the Formula 1 2025 Season campaign got underway at the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne. I was fortunate to have been invited by Aston Martin Australia New Zealand and AML to join other Aston Martin owners and customers in Australasia into the Aston Martin VIP Suite, situated in the Sky Deck Lounge at the Pit Lane Exit. Everyone I spoke to, fans, as well as team members, were delighted that Melbourne was hosting the season opening race. It added to the eagerness, that F1 would be taking place where it would be appreciated by an enthusiastic and appreciative crowd (that exceeded 465,000 over the weekend).
Coming into the race weekend, there was a lot of anticipation as to how the team and the AMR25s would perform in 2025, especially after finishing as ‘best of the rest’ but well behind the top 4 teams in 2024, the arrival of Adrian Newey and the performance during pre-season testing at the end of February, which didn’t divulge a lot. Now, it was time for the truth to be revealed. In glorious weather on Friday, out came the green AMR25 machines for the first free practice session, Stroll first, followed by Alonso. After 15 minutes they had recorded some respectable times, with Alonso in P8 and Stroll in P12. The session was then red flagged when novice driver Doohan went on an excursion into the gravel and spread vast amounts of it onto the track. Then, just after the halfway stage, Bearman went over the gravel at speed, lost control and smashed his Haas into the wall, wrecking the car. Our Aston Martin duo managed to avoid all that and stuck to their regimen, with Alonso managing to get his AMR25 up to P5 and Stroll to P13, with 15 minutes left to go. Stroll managed to improve his position and finished the session in P10, with Alonso in P8.
For the second free practice session (FP2) I was allowed to sit and watch it in the team garage. Here I could see and hear (over the team radio) that the team were trying a mix of shorter and longer runs over the course of the session, assessing the car's pace over one lap for Qualifying and for the longer distance for Sunday's race. They tried a few different car setups on both cars as they optimised the AMR25 for the high-speed Albert Park Circuit and as they learned more about its strengths and areas for further improvement. After their initial runs Alonso was 10th fastest and Stroll was 13th and they both improved on this by the halfway stage, with Stroll moving up to 6th and Alonso behind him in 9th. In the afternoon heat, the track was warming up and evolving, such that with 15 minutes left Stroll had dropped to 9th and Alonso to 13th, which is where they finished FP2.
The following day, the conditions were sweltering when the final free practice (FP3) session commenced. After only 5 minutes Bearman had put his Haas in the gravel....again, causing the session to be red flagged. Once that was all cleared up, both AMs went out on track and then came back into the pits before finishing the lap. Then, they both went out and did the same again. Clearly, there was some decision-making going on regarding setup, as heavy rain was being forecast for Sunday's race and a balance would have to be struck to optimise the car for Qualifying later that afternoon and then for the Grand Prix itself, as parc fermé conditions state the car's setup must be the same and no tampering is permitted. When the Aston Martins eventually did go out to set lap times Alonso initially placed himself P5 and Stroll in P11. Those positions didn’t last long and by the halfway point, Alonso was down in P10 and Stroll in P15 and with only 15 minutes remaining Alonso had dropped to P14 and Stroll to P17. In the end it was Stroll who recorded the better time – he finished in P14 and Alonso was P17.
A few hours later all was set for the first Qualifying session of 2025 when the true form of all the cars would be exposed. On their first runs in Q1 Alonso put his car in P5 and Stroll in P10. They went out again for their final fast attempts with two and a half minutes to go and both of them got through, with Alonso finishing Q1in P9 and Stroll in P14. Q2 didn’t go as well though, especially for Alonso. Stroll managed to improve slightly and he finished Q2 in 13th. Alonso, however, ran wide and over the edge of a kerb on the exit of a turn and he had to abort the lap. He also picked up floor damage, which compromised his performance for the remainder of that Q2 session and he only finished 12th, meaning both drivers wouldn’t take any further part. At the front it was Norris who later took pole position, ahead of his McLaren teammate, Piastri.
What a difference a day makes. Sunday arrived and with it heavy rain, strong wind, dark grey skies and much lower temperatures, all combining to make the track extremely hazardous. Thank goodness I was in the relative sanctuary of a well-covered lounge! Despite the Formula 2 and Formula 3 races having to be abandoned due to the conditions, the Formula 1 race commenced on time, as the rain had abated enough to start the race without the need for a safety car. Unfortunately though, one of the other driver novices, Hadjar slid into a wall on the formation lap, as the track was still drenched, and the main race start had to be delayed in order to clear up the debris. 15 minutes later, at the race start, the cars got away cleanly around the first few corners, but then another novice, Doohan, slid his Alpine 180 degrees and crashed out, which required the Aston Martin safety car to be deployed. Moments later, even though travelling behind the safety car, it was Sainz’s turn to crash, going through the final corner and join the list of casualties – reporting a “massive power surge”. Now the safety car had to guide the rest of the pack down the pit lane, so that the debris on track could be cleared up safely. At the end of lap 5, the safety car came back in and the race got back underway, with Alonso having moved up to 10th and Stroll 11th. However, a message flashed up on screen informing us that Alonso had been noted for safety car infringement – no further information was offered at that time. With the race underway, Alonso was trying to catch Gasly ahead and led Stroll by over second. On lap 18 though, rookie driver Antonelli, in a Mercedes, was noticeably bearing down on Stroll, eventually passing him on lap 24 and then he went in pursuit of Alonso, who was still chasing and sometimes was within a second of, Gasly. In drying conditions and on intermediate tyres that were starting to wear, Alonso was having to defend by pushing the track limits and using the slippery painted kerbs ever more. Eventually, on Lap 34, he was caught out, after carrying significant speed through a right-hand turn, pushing hard up against the gravel at the next turn, losing traction on the kerb and spinning 180 degrees before making heavy contact with the wall. The safety car was called out again. Stroll used the period to switch onto new hard tyres, which worked out to his advantage at that moment of the race. However, another front of rain came a few laps before the end, so Stroll was called in to put on intermediate tyres again, well before other drivers had to do the same (with front runners Hamilton and Piastri particularly getting caught out), which helped to propel Stroll much further up the order. As the rain continued to intensify, accidents occurred for Bortoleto and Lawson, meaning Bernd Mayländer and the Aston Martin Safety Car were called into action again. Stroll held on after the restart and he finished in 6th place and secured a valuable 8 points. A really good start for him and the team – what might have been if Alonso had managed to finish as well? Upfront, Norris managed to fend off Verstappen by just over a second to take the chequered flag and start his world championship campaign.
After the race, Alonso gave his assessment of his incident. “I think the incident came from nowhere. I was not wider than any other lap, I just found a lot of gravel stuck in the middle of the circuit and I spun. A very costly incident but I don’t really know what to do differently. First, I will try to analyse it a little bit better. I think it is a very unlucky incident. I was 10th, I didn’t know if I could keep the point in our pocket but hopefully, we get better. We have another chance in five days, which is a good thing.” Gaining confidence from the pace shown in various conditions across the weekend, Alonso added: “The pace was similar to the midfield. I was fighting with Gasly – Antonelli was clearly faster but it was not easy to overtake us, so all in all, I think we are in the mix. Some weekends will be a bit better, some will be more difficult but we will try to improve.”
Lance was similarly cautiously optimistic. "That was a super tricky race, so it's good to come away with some big points for the team. I'm happy with that, for sure. We knew from the start that it was about staying on track and being on the right tyre at the right time, and we did that today. It's always a real balance of risk versus reward in these changing conditions. You've got to stay clean and consistent. The team made a great call bringing me in for the Intermediate tyres towards the end of the race. The car still isn't where we want it to be – we've got to keep pushing for improvements – but that makes it even more important to make the most of opportunities like we did today."
As a footnote, I would like to emphasise that Melbourne is the perfect venue to kick-off the Formula 1 season in style. The Albert Park circuit is a high-speed thrill ride, demanding, challenging and error-punishing. It has a genuine sense of occasion, it’s a favourite amongst the drivers and makes for compelling viewing. Moreover, it has an atmosphere that a season-opening event deserves, that matches the anticipation and excitement that builds up prior to the season start. It’s a real showcase and if you have the chance to attend I urge you strongly to do so.
And on that note, it’s a quick turnaround for the team and Formula 1 as they head off to Shanghai in China next weekend at which we hope to learn how much more Alonso is capable of.