Fernando Alonso found some speed Friday in Singapore, topping the morning practice session before finishing fourth in the afternoon – but he’s still not completely happy with his Aston Martin.
The two-time world champion surprised everyone by setting the fastest time ahead of Charles Leclerc in FP1, then backed it up with the fourth-quickest lap in FP2, trailing only Max Verstappen and the other front-runners.
“It seems a little bit better than the previous Grand Prix,” Alonso told F1TV after the sessions. “Let’s try to fine-tune the setup.”
Despite the promising times, Alonso insists the car isn’t quite where it needs to be.
“It’s still not in a happy place, especially on the front axle, still a little bit too much on the steer,” he explained. “Something to work on tonight, but I think a good start.”
The AMR25 has struggled at many circuits this season but typically performs better on high-downforce tracks like Singapore’s Marina Bay Street Circuit. This gives the team a real shot at scoring points this weekend.
Red flags during the second practice session made it difficult to get a complete picture of where everyone stands.
“I think since the first lap in FP1 we were in a comfy place and we were able to find the limits quite quickly,” Alonso said.
“The red flag didn’t help to see the full picture. I don’t know if the top teams put the lap or not together with the red flag.”
Being in the top four in both sessions marks Aston Martin’s strongest Friday showing in quite some time.
“Let’s see if we can be in Q3 tomorrow and get points on Sunday.”
Alonso remains cautiously optimistic, noting that Friday results don’t always translate to qualifying and race performance.
“I think both sessions being in the top four is probably the best Friday we’ve had so far. But sometimes on Friday we run with different programs than the others, so different fuel.”
“It’s not the first time that happens; the real test is tomorrow in qualifying, but we are a little bit more optimistic than the previous two races.”
His teammate Lance Stroll also showed promising pace, finishing sixth fastest in FP2.
Can Aston Martin maintain this form through qualifying and into Sunday’s race? The team certainly looks more competitive than they’ve been for months.
