Fernando Alonso labels recent Aston Martin struggles “a big wake-up call”

Fernando Alonso has labelled the last two F1 races for Aston Martin as “a big wake-up call” after slipping back in the pecking order.

Even though Aston Martin continue to bring significant upgrades to their car, they have picked up just four points in the last three races.

Alarmingly, Alonso’s last two weekends have been miserable.

He qualified last at Imola and was then knocked out in Q1 again in Monaco.

For Aston Martin, it appears to be a repeat of last where they started off the season competitively before dropping back.

The Silverstone-based outfit are at risk of being F1’s sixth-fastest team given RB’s impressive form in the hands of Yuki Tsunoda.

However, Alonso remains confident in Aston Martin because their poor recent weekends will allow them to “understand our weaknesses”.

“These weekends have been crucial to understand our weaknesses, to understand the car, to improve,” Alonso told DAZN. “You always learn more from the difficulties than from the victories, because the problems go over the top with the euphoria.

“We are learning a lot and looking ahead to the rest of the year, 2025 and 2026. These two races have been a big wake-up call for the team and it will be very good for us.”

Alonso narrowly missed out on a points finish in Monaco.

His main aim on Sunday was to help Aston Martin teammate Lance Stroll, who was running ahead.

Alonso’s deliberate slow pace allowed Stroll to make a free pit stop into clear air.

Although, it was all in vain when Stroll brushed the barrier and picked up a puncture in the process.

“We tried everything we had to try to score some points,’ Alonso added. “It was going to be difficult so we tried to stop with Lance one more time to give him fresh tyres to attack Gasly, but we couldn’t do that either. It was another weekend where we were unlucky again I think.

“The car wasn’t good enough for the points. I’m not saying we missed a golden opportunity, but when you go out on the hard tyre and extend the stint and all of a sudden there’s a red flag and you have to put the medium tyres on until the end of the race, it’s almost suicide because they have to last you 78 laps.

“That’s what I tried to do. They lasted, but at a very low pace.”