Fernando Alonso looking ahead to 2025 after netting one point in ‘challenging’ Zandvoort race

Fernando Alonso admitted that he is already starting to think about his 2025 campaign for Aston Martin at the end of a long Grand Prix in Zandvoort, with all his efforts ultimately being rewarded with a single point.

Having started with both cars in the top 10, Aston Martin didn’t have the pace to challenge around the banked circuit, as Lance Stroll came home outside the points.

Both Alonso and Stroll lost places off the line, an unusually sluggish start for the Spaniard seeing him jumped by Alpine’s Pierre Gasly. Alonso was also undercut by Nico Hulkenberg, but was able to recover that place late on as the German began to struggle with tyre wear.

The season started with a split of five top teams fighting for the points – including Aston Martin – and five midfield teams tightly matched, but now Aston Martin find themselves adrift from the top four with Alonso thinking ahead to next year.

ZANDVOORT, NETHERLANDS - AUGUST 25: Fernando Alonso of Spain driving the (14) Aston Martin AMR24 — Alonso had to work hard for his solitary point on Sunday

“The top four teams, it seems they are in another league so we are fighting for ninth and 10th,” Alonso said. “Today it was 10th, Pierre was a little bit faster than us all throughout the race.

“It was a challenging race for us, we didn’t have the pace, we were not comfortable so we need to get better.”

With nine races left – albeit three of those including a Sprint event – Aston Martin find themselves with little to play for in the constructors’. They sit fifth, comfortably ahead of RB to the tune of 40 points, but 202 points behind fourth placed Mercedes.

“We just need to understand the car, get some data to feed back to the factory and get better for next year,” Alonso continued. “As you said, realistically this year, with nine or 10 races remaining there are not many chances to close the gap to the top four teams so everything is with an eye into next year’s project.”

ZANDVOORT, NETHERLANDS - AUGUST 25: Lance Stroll of Canada driving the (18) Aston Martin AMR24 — Stroll finished outside the points for the second race in a row

As for Stroll, as well as a poor start, the Canadian was penalised for speeding in the pit lane and had five seconds added to his race time. But it made no real difference in the end, as he came home well outside the points in P13.

“We just struggled with pace today, we weren’t as quick as some of the other midfield teams so yeah we’ve got to look into it,” Stroll said afterwards.

"We'll debrief on this weekend and then shift our focus to Monza, knowing we need to keep pushing to bring additional performance.”