As surprising as it may sound, Aston Martin emerged as McLaren’s closest challenger after the opening day of on-track action at Zandvoort ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix.
Following a strong showing in Hungary, a key question arises: Is Aston Martin ready for another strong result, and has their stretch of poor performances finally come to an end? Or is this Friday pace just a fluke?
Aston Martin topples the slow-speed corner
The Hungarian Grand Prix, which marked the end of the first half of the season, was by far Aston Martin’s strongest race so far in 2025. Fernando Alonso finished P5, while his teammate Lance Stroll brought the car home in P7.
This impressive result lifted the British team to sixth in the Constructors’ standings and sparked speculation about whether they could seriously challenge Williams for P5.
It’s important to note that the good result in Hungary was not a coincidence but rather a reflection of the car’s core characteristics: It performs well in slow-speed corners.
Even though quite some time has passed, these same strengths were evident in the AMR cars back in 2022, when Alonso came very close to pole position (and possibly a win) in Monaco.
Recent upgrades likely played a significant role in this improvement. The car now shows more consistent performance, and earlier issues with tyre degradation seem to have been mitigated. Another important development is their improved one-lap pace, particularly in qualifying.
All of this contributed to Aston Martin setting competitive lap times during the first two practice sessions in the Netherlands, on a track that shares many similarities with Hungary, especially in terms of aerodynamic setup and car balance.
In FP1, Stroll and Alonso finished P4 and P5 respectively, while Alonso’s time in FP2 was just slightly behind Norris, placing him in P2.
Unfortunately, Lance Stroll suffered a heavy crash early in FP2, losing control of the car in Turn 3 and ending his session prematurely. This means we don’t have a full picture of the car’s performance in that session.
Still, an analysis of the FP1 and FP2 data shows that Aston Martin was fairly competitive in the first and second sectors, while McLaren’s incredible stability in the final sector kept it a notch above.
When comparing Stroll’s and Norris’s fastest laps in FP1, we can see that they’re nearly identical up to Turn 10. The Canadian is quicker in Turn 2, while the Brit takes the edge at the beginning of Sector 2. The critical point comes at Turn 10, where Norris manages to control the understeer and maintain a higher minimum apex speed.
This gives him a better exit into the second DRS zone and stronger braking into Turn 11, where he remains more stable. Through these two corners alone, Norris gains nearly half a second.
Interestingly, we get a completely different picture when comparing Alonso and Norris during FP2. In this case, Norris gets off to a better start, holding about half a second advantage by Turn 3.
However, Aston Martin’s excellent top speed helps reduce that gap significantly through the fast-flowing Turns 4, 5, and 6, allowing Fernando to remain competitive through Turns 7 and 8 as well.
Once again, under heavy braking before Turn 11, McLaren’s superior stability gives Norris the upper hand, allowing him to increase his advantage. Although Alonso had a higher exit speed through the final corner, it wasn’t enough to beat Norris’s overall lap time.
Still, a difference of just 0.087 seconds between Alonso and Norris is definitely something Aston Martin can be pleased with.
An interesting fact is that Fernando Alonso was the driver who spent the highest percentage of his lap time on the throttle during his flying lap.
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Race simulation shows encouraging signs
When it comes to race simulation, Aston Martin still looks solid. Alonso was, on average, 0.392 seconds per lap slower than Norris during their medium-tyre long runs.
While that’s a noticeable gap, it’s worth noting that Piastri was even slower, trailing Norris by 0.621 seconds on average.
Additionally, Alonso only completed four laps during his simulation, while the McLaren drivers logged seven and eight laps respectively on significantly older tyres. Unfortunately, not many drivers ran long stints on the C3 (medium) tyre during FP2, which limits the overall comparative data.
It’s hard to predict exactly what we can expect from Aston Martin in Sunday’s race, especially considering the significant damage Stroll’s car sustained. Qualifying will be critically important, and Saturday’s grid positions will heavily influence the race outcome.
What we can expect is that Aston Martin should have a solid race — likely stronger than Williams — unless something unexpected happens on track. Williams is clearly struggling at Zandvoort, so this weekend presents a perfect opportunity for Aston Martin to further close the gap in the standings.
After FP2, Alex Albon made an interesting comment on how his team had anticipated that Aston Martin would perform well in both Hungary and Zandvoort, but he reminded everyone that the next race is at Monza, a circuit that suits Williams far more than it does Aston Martin.
But that’s the charm of midfield battle; each team has its own unique strengths, and the winner will be the one that knows how to exploit them best.
Read next: Dutch GP: Norris sees off Alonso threat as Stroll crashes hard in FP2