Less than a week after the race in Imola, Formula 1, as well as the glamourous and the wealthy, assembled at Monaco’s unforgiving streets for the eighth round of the 2025 F1 season. For the Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team, the mission was simple: keep it clean and seize on opportunity. Coming off the back of a frustrating weekend in Imola, the focus was on maximising points from a package that was showing promise during qualifying but was still seeking consistency in race execution and performance. The team arrived in Monte Carlo with no significant upgrades, instead concentrating on optimising the AMR25’s low-speed balance — a crucial trait for success around the tight, twisty confines of the Principality. With track position in Qualifying providing significant advantage for the race the weekend, race success would hinge heavily on a clean Saturday.
FP1 took place under glorious Mediterranean skies, with both AMR25s taking to the track early with the aim of focusing on long-run evaluation and mechanical grip. Stroll may have wished he hadn’t gone out so early, as after just 5 laps of practice Leclerc had driven his Ferrari into the back of Stroll’s car. Stroll had pulled over to let another, faster car through at the hairpin, then went back onto the racing line in front of Leclerc and he piled into Stroll. The session was immediately red flagged. When the track was cleared of debris from Stroll’s car the session got back underway. Alonso was 6th at this point and Stroll 7th, but only Alonso was able to run as significant repairs would have to be undertaken on Stroll’s AM. [Belatedly, the following day, the Stewards adjudicated that Stroll would be given a 1 place grid penalty for causing the crash with Leclerc] At the halfway point Alonso was in P8 and Stroll’s car was still in the garage – the mechanics seemingly struggling to get the back cover off. By this time Stroll had fallen down the order to P20. With 15 mins left Alonso was up to P7 – 1 minute slower than Leclerc’s P1 time. Stroll was still in the garage – fully expecting his car wouldn’t be ready before the end of the session. At the end, Leclerc remained fastest, Alonso was P10, Stroll P20. The mechanics ensured that Stroll’s car was fully repaired in time for FP2 and both AM cars headed out on track early. After Alonso had just gone P4, Hadjar, in a Racing Bull crashed into a barrier, which brought out the red flags temporarily, as somehow Hadjar managed to limp back to the pits with 3 wheels on his wagon. When the session resumed Alonso had just managed to put in the 4th fastest time again, when it was Piastri’s turn to crash into the barriers at Ste Devote, which brought out the red flags again. After the barrier was repaired and the action got back underway, Alonso kept up his momentum and placed himself P2 at the halfway point and then achieved P1 on the next lap. Stroll was only P16. Leclerc promptly dislodged Alonso on his next fast lap, but it was clear that Alonso was showing good performance round this circuit. Stroll on the other hand wasn’t hooking the car up as he needed to, actually cutting across the chicane at one point, meaning his lap time was deleted. When he went round again, cleanly, he only managed to go P18. At the end of the session Alonso finished P7, Stroll P17. There didn’t seem to be any rush for the Aston Martin drivers to hit the track for Saturday’s FP3 session. Stroll eventually got going after 15 minutes and when he did, he immediately went P3. Meanwhile, the team were fine-tuning Alonso’s car. As the session developed, Stroll dropped down the order but rebounded with another lap that again put him 3rd. Alonso eventually headed out just before the halfway stage and after he’d bedded himself in, he placed himself P10, with Stroll one place below him. Leclerc and Verstappen were trading fastest times at the front, while the Aston Martin pair focused on dialling in their setups for Qualifying but staying mid-pack timewise. Then, with 2 minutes left, red flags brought the session to a premature end after Hamilton put his Ferrari into the wall going into Casino Square, meaning Alonso finished FP3 in P12, Stroll P15.
Later in the afternoon, Qualifying kicked off with track temperatures rising and both cars heading out early on soft tyres. Alonso initially set a banker lap good enough for P9 but Stroll struggled with traffic and ended his first run down in P17, which he improved upon by a couple of places by the time six minutes remained. On their final runs, it was Antonelli’s turn to crash, bringing out the red flags. Unfortunately for Stroll, who hadn't completed his final lap, he was eliminated - classified P16 - a tough result given the importance of grid position in Monaco. Alonso, already in P8, advanced into Q2. In the next Qualifying period, the session was interrupted again when Russell crashed in the tunnel, with 10 minutes to go. Alonso was looking comfortable however, in P7. The session resumed and out went the cars to attempt improvement. Alonso meanwhile, remained consistent and made it into Q3, securing P8. In the final period, Alonso did the opposite, initially taking 8th spot, but then had a cleaner final lap and ended up P7. Norris took pole position for the race, in a lap record-breaking time, followed by Leclerc and Piastri. A post-session penalty was handed to Hamilton — 3 place grid demotion for impeding Verstappen — which promoted Alonso to a better starting P6 for the race the following day.
Sunday’s Grand Prix began under sunny skies, with the grid holding formation off the start line and Norris keeping his lead. Further down the order though, a Virtual Safety Car was triggered when Bortoleto’s Sauber headed into a barrier. Stroll capitalised by gaining two positions, jumping ahead of Gasly and Tsunoda, who both had to take avoiding action around Bartoleto. When the VSC ended on lap 5, Alonso was still P6, but with Hamilton closing to within a second. Stroll was 16th. Hamilton then went round 0.7 of a second slower than Alonso on lap 7 and the immediate threat seemed to pass. A lap later Gasly drove into the rear of Tsunoda’s Red Bull, completely dislodging his own wheel. He hobbled back to the pits in the Alpine and parked up in the garage – his race over. As the FIA had decreed that for this Monaco race only, a mandatory 2 pit stops would be required - the first pit window coming on lap 14, when Hulkenberg first, and then Colapinto came in, which promoted Stroll to P14. A lap later, Hadjar pitted from P5, boosting Alonso to P5. Both Aston Martins were running the hard tyres, aiming for a long first stint, but it wasn’t that long as Alonso stopped for fresh tyres on lap 17, rejoining in P7. Stroll followed on lap 18 and emerged 18th. The tactic, to stay ahead of Hamilton, didn’t work. When Hamilton emerged from a slightly later pitstop he’d managed to leapfrog both Hadjar and Alonso. Hadjar then pitted again, which let Alonso by, meaning that on lap 20 Alonso was running P6 and Stroll P18, who then managed to creep up a couple of places, to 16th, after a battle with Bearman. Ocon then tried to close in on Alonso, but the Spaniard held firm. However, Alonso’s race came to an abrupt end on lap 37 when a power unit issue in the Mercedes engine forced him to retire at Rascasse. [The issue that ended his race had actually started quite a while beforehand, with team boss Andy Cowell revealing Alonso had lost the full use of his Energy Recovery System (ERS) earlier in the Grand Prix – an issue that sapped him of a considerable amount of horsepower. Alonso, was able to keep driving a few seconds off the pace to maintain his 6th place, until the engine gave up entirely. The timing charts show that Alonso set his best lap time on lap 15, 1:15.5, but with the problem seeming to kick in shortly after his first pitstop, he spent the last 15 laps of his race circulating in the 1:16s and 1:17s, some two-three seconds off the pace of the frontrunners. “I had a problem with the engine since Lap 15 (sic), I didn’t have the ERS system, the electrical part,” said Alonso.] Stroll inherited P15 as a result of Alonso’s retirement and then climbed to P14 when Hulkenberg stopped. He then was caught up in a ‘train’, chasing Tsunoda, who was less than ahead of him, yet also himself being less than a second ahead of Bearman. So it continued, until lap 67 (of 78), when Stroll made his second pit stop, dropping to 18th as he exited. He climbed back to P15 in the final laps when others ahead had to come in for their second mandatory pit stop – which is where he finished. Norris took a popular victory, with local Monegasque favourite, Leclerc coming second and the Championship leader Piastri completing the podium.
For Aston Martin, it was another race of lost opportunity. Alonso’s retirement was a major blow after a promising qualifying session, while Stroll’s late race was anonymous. After the race, Alonso was clearly dismayed and frustrated. “We lost another great opportunity to score some good points today. We’ve had a lot of unfortunate moments, but I think the most unfortunate thing is that we’re not competitive,” he said bluntly. Stroll was more philosophical, "It's Monaco, so when you have a tough Saturday, you know Sunday will always be a challenge. It was always going to be tricky starting from the back of the grid and it was not an exciting race with very few opportunities that could help us gain more positions today."
The Team now packs up quickly, turns the page, refocuses and heads further round the Mediterranean coast, to Barcelona in less than a week's time for Alonso's home race and the final leg of the triple-header.