Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso believes the Singapore Grand Prix is a ‘good opportunity’ for the team
The 2027 Formula 1 season has been a difficult one for Aston Martin.
But this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix presents a “good opportunity” for the team to get back into the points, according to veteran driver Fernando Alonso.
The season began with a challenger that was mired at the back of the grid, and vibrations from the power unit so severe they damaged not only the AMR26 itself, but presented hazards to both Alonso and teammate Lance Stroll inside the car. It was not until the Miami Grand Prix, the fourth race of the season, that both drivers saw the checkered flag, and Aston Martin did not finish in the points until the Monaco Grand Prix, when Alonso was classified tenth.
But a recent upgrade package has seen Aston Martin come forward in the field a bit, and the team is coming off the best weekend of the season. At last weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, both Alonso and Stroll advanced to Q2, and when the checkered flag flew at the end of a wet and chaotic Grand Prix, Alonso was up in P8, for the team’s best finish of the season.
Now as the grid gets ready to take on the tricky Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore, Alonso believes that last weekend was a step forward, and another good opportunity is in front of the team this weekend.
“It was obviously still far away from what we want to achieve, but yeah, to win the points and to have a competitive pace in the race, it was encouraging,” said Alonso on Thursday in the FIA Press Conference. “The whole weekend was a bit better, but still what it is and this year has been painful and still a little bit struggling with the pace and the speed on the straight. So yeah, let’s see. I think it’s going to be circuit dependent. Probably this weekend we could be a little bit in the mix, some others we will be right at the back.
“So, we need to maximise the good weekends.
“Last weekend was a good weekend.”
Alonso does not believe the step forward will be universal, and he characterized the improvement shown in Malaysia as “circuit dependent” for Aston Martin. But he also believes that the layout in Singapore provides another chance for Aston Martin to be in the fight.
“Not really. As I said, this is circuit dependent. The car was exactly the same, physically the same, set-up the same, power unit the same, everything was the same as Baku five days before Malaysia, and the performance difference was huge,” added Alonso. “So, it’s not about experimenting with the set-up or having the car more in the window or something that we can do on track. Unfortunately, it depends so much on the layout and the straights we have on that weekend. So yeah, as I said, probably this weekend is a good opportunity.”
Why will Singapore be good for Aston Martin?
“Less straights,” added the veteran driver.
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