Alonso insists Aston Martin need to ‘improve our car performance’ as he just falls short of points in Japan

Fernando Alonso has called on Aston Martin to «improve our car performance» after he finished just outside the points in 11th place at the Japanese Grand Prix. While the result saw the Spaniard reach the chequered flag for the first time, he remains one of five drivers yet to score a point in 2025.

Alonso gave the race some early entertainment as he duelled with Pierre Gasly on the opening laps, making it past the Frenchman and into 11th place. But that was as far as the double World Champion could go, with overtaking proving difficult at Suzuka.

“It was a difficult race today and despite our best efforts we missed out on the points,» he said after the Grand Prix.

«The first half of the race I had Pierre [Gasly] within one-second and then Yuki [Tsunoda] close for the second half of the race, so I couldn’t make a mistake.

2025 Japanese Grand Prix: Best race start onboards

“Suzuka is a great circuit, and I really enjoy racing here, but it’s very hard to overtake on this track. We need to improve our car performance going forward and I’m looking forward to that development.»

In contrast to his team mate, Lance Stroll faced a much more challenging weekend in Japan as he finished last on the track – a disappointing result given his promising start to the year.

The Canadian was one of the first to pit, having gambled on a soft tyre start from his last-placed grid slot, but was forced into a second pit stop later in the race.

With everyone else one-stopping, Stroll trailed home at the back of the pack – but then explained that the team had used his race to gather more important data.

SUZUKA, JAPAN - APRIL 06: Lance Stroll of Canada driving the (18) Aston Martin F1 Team AMR25 — Stroll was the only driver to stop twice in Japan as he tried an alternate strategy

«Ultimately there wasn’t much we could do today – we tried to make up some positions at the start, but it wasn’t possible,” Stroll said.

“It was still an opportunity to learn what we could, with set-ups for Bahrain, and we’ll take that forward. It was just one of those days and we will see what we can do next weekend.»

Stroll does at least have two scores this season, a good drive in the wet conditions in Melbourne yielding a P6 finish, while he was promoted up to ninth in China thanks to three disqualifications. He’ll be hoping for a better day in Bahrain, with Aston Martin getting an immediate chance to put a tricky race in Japan behind them.