Still outside the top 10 in Jeddah, is Alonso heading for a points-free season?

Among the four drivers who have still not opened their points account in 2025 after five Grands Prix, there are three rookies... and one veteran. In addition to Gabriel Bortoleto, Liam Lawson and Jack Doohan, Fernando Alonso has still not scored a single point in the first five rounds of the season. After a disastrous start to the championship, with an accident in Australia and a retirement due to mechanical problems in China, the Spaniard has not managed to get back on track with a Aston Martin clumsy. Yes Lance stroll Although he was able to take advantage of the first two Grands Prix to score ten points, mainly thanks to racing incidents and disqualifications, the double world champion was unable to seize the opportunities and is now suffering with the AMR25.

A first since 2017

Sunday's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was the perfect example of the Iberian's powerlessness with his car. Qualifying in 13th position, Fernando Alonso was unable to move up the order of the day, and only owed his 11th place finish to race incidents. At the end of the race, the fatalistic Asturian was struggling to be optimistic about the rest of the season. In the mixed zone, the Oviedo native stated that Aston Martin "needed a lot of performance" to have a chance of finishing in the top 10 this season, while pointing out that his result in Jeddah was due to the problems encountered by the other drivers.

“I gave it my all on the track. It was difficult to keep pace with the cars in front of us. We simply weren't fast enough. 11th place is the worst position you can achieve and we have to get used to it. It will be difficult to score points this year, recognizes Fernando Alonso, who is currently experiencing his worst start to the season since 2017 and the era McLaren- Honda. Today we are 11th because Yuki [tsunoda] and gasly collided on the first lap and Liam [Lawson] received a 10-second penalty. Otherwise, we were 14th. But there is still a long way to go."

Alonso enjoys his heated moment with Bortoleto

A symbol of Aston Martin's troubles at the start of the season: the British team is the only one of the ten teams to have driven slower than in 2024 in qualifying! Two years after securing a podium in Saudi Arabia, on this same Corniche circuit, Fernando Alonso is bearing the brunt of the Silverstone team's drop in performance, which already seems to have turned its attention to 2026 while abandoning the current season. Without any development or progress from the English team, the Iberian could be condemned to a blank season, something that has only happened to him once… in 2001, during his first campaign in F1 with Minardi.

In Jeddah, the Spaniard could even consider himself lucky to have finished the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Indeed, the Spaniard suffered a serious scare mid-race, being pushed into the wall by Gabriel Bortoleto on the outside of the first corner while trying to overtake the Brazilian rookie. "It was a close call. I chose to go to the outside, but there was a risk in doing that. He obviously didn't see me and I had to swerve into the first corner. I quickly gave up my position because I couldn't take the corner to avoid any penalties." explained Fernando Alonso, who is… Gabriel Bortoleto's manager. The two-time world champion, not holding a grudge, made fun of the situation by assuring that his protégé would not have "no dinner" on the plane taking them back to Europe. A bit of lightness that feels good in a complicated context for the Asturian and the Aston Martin team.

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