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Aston Martin Tackles Development Challenges: Fernando Alonso Discusses Downforce Dilemmas and Future Prospects

Carl Harrison by Carl Harrison
March 10, 2025
in Motorsports
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0
Hamilton Expresses Joy Over Ferrari Performance During F1 Pre-Season Testing

Formula One F1 - Pre Season Testing - Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain - February 26, 2025 Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso ahead of testing REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

It’s a high-stakes dilemma for Aston Martin: Push for higher downforce gains and risk drivability issues or play it safe and possibly lag behind. This is a predicament that Fernando Alonso, the seasoned Formula 1 driver, believes many teams have stumbled upon due to the constraints of the current rules.

As we approach the final year of the existing regulations cycle in 2025, Alonso’s observation is backed by the struggles teams across the grid faced last year in car development. The likes of Red Bull started the year strong, only to grapple with balance problems after attempting to upgrade their RB20.

Aston Martin itself wasn’t spared, having had a rocky 2024 season. The team that once nipped at the heels of the top contenders found itself mired in development and performance problems after a supposedly beneficial upgrade at Imola backfired, causing their AMR24 to experience serious drivability issues.

Now, in 2025, as Aston Martin gears up its AMR25, Alonso candidly admits that any attempt to increase downforce could potentially lead to further drivability issues. However, he also hints that Aston Martin may have the necessary tools for successful implementation of upgrades.

“We’re at a point in car development where adding downforce without creating driving difficulties is challenging,” Alonso shared with selected media outlets, including Motorsport Week, “But as far as correlation and other factors are concerned, we’re in a decent spot.”

With a cutting-edge wind tunnel in their arsenal, Aston Martin is poised to address correlation issues and make significant strides in the future.

But what exactly are these current rules that are causing such a conundrum? Adrian Newey, the legendary designer and Managing Technical Partner at Aston Martin, offers some insight.

According to Newey, the current “ground effect” era of F1 differs significantly from the technical revolution of the late 70s and early 80s, when skirts were used to seal the underside of the car and generate the desired negative pressure for downforce.

Without these side-sealing skirts, Newey explains, a ground-effect car is inherently prone to instability. “You’re constantly trying to increase the vacuum under the car, but the side leakage is a persistent issue,” he said. This results in sporadic downforce losses, especially when the car is low-slung.

Despite the challenges of 2024, Alonso sees a silver lining. He believes the painful lessons are finally beginning to yield positive outcomes, with early signs of improvement on the AMR25 evident in the pre-season testing.

“We have some positives in the car, and the data and correlation seems good. There is a step forward compared to last year’s car,” Alonso said. However, he also acknowledges that there are areas that need fixing, and that the competition in the midfield is incredibly tight.

“But we are relatively happy knowing that it’s extremely tight in the midfield and we will have to do perfect weekends if we want to score points. But this maybe was not a surprise and we will try to get better throughout the season,” he concluded.

In light of these insights, it’s clear that the road to the top in Formula 1 is fraught with challenges. As teams like Aston Martin navigate the delicate balance between downforce gains and drivability, they are setting the stage for an exciting and unpredictable 2025 season.

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