Aston Martin Team Principal Andy Cowell has firmly placed the onus of performance on the team, asserting that the pressure to deliver a competitive car should not fall on the shoulders of drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll.
Speaking at the F1 75 Live event in London, Cowell’s comments come amidst swirling rumors and heightened expectations for the 2025 Formula 1 season.
With Aston Martin maintaining an unchanged driver lineup for 2025, a rarity in the current grid, Cowell emphasized the team’s commitment to Alonso and Stroll, both of whom are on long-term contracts.
“We’re really, really lucky, we’ve got Lance and Fernando – [both have] great experience and they’re on long-term contracts,” Cowell stated. “The key work for this team is to create a fast race car, and we didn’t create that for them last year and they get a lot of media pressure because of that. The pressure should come in our direction – we’ve got the job to create a fast race car for them, and I’m absolutely certain that they’re both going to deliver.”
Cowell’s remarks directly address the team’s struggles in 2024, a stark contrast to their impressive start in 2023.
After a promising beginning that saw Alonso secure multiple podium finishes, Aston Martin’s performance waned, ultimately resulting in a distant fifth-place finish in the constructors’ championship with no podiums.
The comments also come after rumors circulated regarding a supposed billion-pound offer for Max Verstappen. Cowell addressed those rumors by reaffirming the team’s satisfaction with their current drivers.
Addressing the AMR24’s performance, Cowell indicated that significant strides have been made during the off-season.
“I think we’ve got a reasonable understanding on last year’s car, and what we’ve worked on through the winter is to try and create a car that is more stable through corners, is more predictable to drive through the race, and we feel that that will reward us well with regards to race performance,” he explained.
He further detailed the extensive work done on the 2025 car, highlighting a near-complete overhaul of the aerodynamic package.
“The aerodynamic package of the car is close on 100% new, a huge amount of effort put in at the campus by everyone. The aero release points were later than we’ve ever done before with a car, and that’s thanks to the investment that’s been put into the campus and the capability of the operations team in particular, but also the design group – both those groups have enabled the aero development team to spend several more weekends in the wind tunnel.”
Cowell expressed optimism about the upcoming season, stating, “I’m looking forward to seeing that on track, see the results, and we’ll see how the on-track results correlate with the measurements that are done on campus.”
With the 2025 season fast approaching, Aston Martin’s focus is clear: deliver a car capable of challenging at the front.
