Alonso rues lack of Mercedes wind tunnel time

Fernando Alonso expressed his disappointment with the past season, attributing it to the lack of time spent in Mercedes’ wind tunnel.

While finishing fifth in the team standings may have seemed alright at first glance, the huge gap of 374 points behind Mercedes in fourth place highlighted the challenges faced by Aston Martin throughout the year.

Despite scoring points in the first few races and having a strong showing in Canada, where both drivers scored points, the team struggled in the latter half of the season, with Lance Stroll failing to score any points after the summer break.

It was a stark contrast to the team’s performance in 2023, where they achieved six podium finishes in the first eight races, ultimately finishing only 22 points behind McLaren in fourth place.

The hopes for the future lie in the recruitment of Adrian Newey and the new partnership with Honda. Looking back at the difficult 2024 season, Alonso believes that the team’s close ties with Mercedes were a contributing factor to their struggles.

Aside from the Mercedes power unit, Aston Martin relied on Mercedes for their gearbox and wind tunnel, where they had limited time for testing.

Alonso shared on the Chequered Flag podcast, “Our wind tunnel usage is a little bit limited by using the Mercedes tunnel, causing challenges in the development of the car.”

Fortunately, the team’s new wind tunnel will be operational this year, although it will not benefit the 2025 car, it will be available for Newey to use for the 2026 car.

Team boss Mike Krack expressed his excitement for the future, stating in a recent Q&A video on YouTube, “We will have Yoda soon helping us and his force, so nothing can go wrong for 2026.”