As Fernando Alonso bemoans Aston Martin's lack of progress, one wonders if the 'Alonso curse' is about to strike again.

You know the curse, the Spaniard joins a team that is showing clear signs of improvement, the two-time world champion thought to be the missing piece of the puzzle.

However, for various reasons, the team loses its way, Alonso moves on and "hey presto", the team begins to improve again, sometimes going on to claim a title or two.

Bear that in mind as Aston Martin slips down the grid and talk of Max Verstappen heading to the Silverstone-based outfit dominates the headlines.

Yet to score a point, and having failed to finish the first two races, Alonso admits that a decision on whether he remains in F1 very much depends on how the new regulations work out. However, in the meantime there is the little matter of 2025 and no sign of improvement any time soon.

"This is one of my favourite circuits," he told reporters after qualifying 13th. "Even from Alpine times, I've always been super-fast in Jeddah.

"Today I was pushing beyond the limits to reach Q2," he continued. "And then in Q2, with a scrubbed set of tyres, again, another very, very good lap in my opinion... P13.

"It's hard," he admitted, "because if I crash, everyone will blame my mistake... I'm not satisfied with the position we are in. You push beyond the limits to unlock some potential from the car."

Over the last few seasons the team has struggled to produce the necessary upgrades, and this year the situation is further complicated by the need to focus on the 2026 rules overhaul.

Then there's the fact that despite having arguably the best designer in the business, he is fully focussed on next season.

"It has been a difficult weekend," said the Spaniard. "We didn't unlock any pace. We tried many different set-ups, all of them had more or less the same outcome at the end of the lap.

"So, we really need something from the factory, not from the trackside. I think we ran out of ideas at the moment."

Check out our Sunday gallery from Jeddah here.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by kenji, 21/04/2025 7:40

"ATM Aston Martin are an embarrassment. IMO....."

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2. Posted by Celtic Tiger, 20/04/2025 21:34

"@Chester,
I suppose the jury is still out on that. I remember when Alonso left Ferrari an employee (I can't remember what position they held) had said that what really irked them about Alonso is that when Alonso got into the car for the shakedown in pre-season he would do some laps hop out of the car and turn to the engineers waiting for feedback and give them a thumbs up. So the team would continue down the development path thinking they were on the right track. Then when the season started and after a few races he would complain about all these things and everyone would be standing around thinking "Why didn't you say this before?". So, who knows? But we do know he can drag whatever he's driving up a few places it shouldn't, at least on paper, be able to achieve."

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3. Posted by Chester, 20/04/2025 16:13

"Not sure what to think here. Is Alonso poor at giving development feedback? I say this as a long time Alonso fan."

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"I'm not satisfied with the position we're in," says Alonso.

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