Fernando Alonso or when the magic fan doesn't know why his Aston Martin does it

"During the race weekend, time is limited ; there's not much scope to work on the car so that, by magic, it becomes faster." On Thursday, not even Fernando Alonso imagined that the Hungarian Grand Prix would become the best race since Saudi Arabia in 2024, also in 2025. Neither he nor anyone else. And yet the Asturian is a great and skilled fan of magic tricks.

The Spaniard's fifth place finish at the Hungaroring (with Lando Norris winning) marked one of the most radical overnight reversals for any team this season. "I've driven the same way in all 14 races and I've never finished fifth," joked Alonso, recalling the difference a "good car" makes and the surprising transformation of the AMR25.

Why the "magic" in the AMR25? It's best not to get your hopes up for the rest of the year, except on circuits and certain types of corners. The pivotal moments of Spa and the Hungaroring are a reminder of the driver's exaggerated dependence on the car. Max Verstappen also illustrated this paradox, winning the sprint at Spa but hopelessly struggling at the Hungaroring. He finished ninth and even received an apology from Laurent Mekies at the end of the race.

Unfortunately, Carlos Sainz was right with his predictions on Thursday. Williams had one of the worst races, if not the worst, of 2025. For the Madrid native, it was another testament to how hard life becomes when you drop down a competitive category. Although Lewis Hamilton wasn't far away this weekend.

The robot, in action

Spa was the realm of aerodynamic efficiency (top speed, low drag ) , and the Hungaroring was the opposite. Adding all the necessary wing and adding some new elements seemed to guarantee good race degradation. On a circuit where track position is also a determining factor (when overtaking is difficult), the Asturian had plenty of leverage to control fifth place on the starting line, provided the tires held up. The rest was management. Here, the maestro Alonso is at his best.

Thus, first, Saturday's prediction came true as soon as the light went green. "First, try to get to P4 at the start, because the clean zone is usually quite clean here." No sooner said than done, Norris's McLaren was right behind him. And from there, apply the template that the Asturian once explained as a model for race management, with the Hungaroring as a perfect case study.

" It's about running the race like a robot, basically, without emotions. There's only one way to get to the finish line faster, taking care of the battery, the tires... Achieving the most efficient way to get to the finish line with all the tools to create millions of scenarios. We choose one, the fastest for us . So I take it upon myself to do that job as the last link in the chain." The scenario was clear: hold on to fifth place and forget about the rest.

Of course, Alonso forgot about the McLarens, Leclerc, and Russell and focused on the optimal scenario the simulations were showing. At first, it was strange to see him treading on eggshells in the first 15 laps. Graining ? Excessive degradation? Not at all. "The truth is, we had good pace," explained the Spaniard. " I controlled the tires a bit for the first 10 or 15 laps , and then, from there, I started to lap a bit more and was able to open a bit of a gap on Bortoleto and control the race."

What next?

Suddenly, Alonso was almost a second faster per lap. With that blip on the accelerator, he was looking to open a gap on the group of Bortoleto and company, which included Verstappen. He also lurked around for a one-stop strategy. He started pushing and pushing, waiting for the right window to return to the track without traffic or the chance of a safety car and an almost free stop that would have put him within striking distance of a podium finish.

On lap 40, Alonso switched to the hard compound. Again, the robot . He looked after the tyre like he had during the first stint, and when Bortoleto and company closed in, he reached out of the window and waved them off with ease. "Between Verstappen and the traffic and his two stops, that helped us. There were only 30 laps left on the hard , but knowing I'd done 40 on the medium, the task was much easier and I was able to relax a bit more."

Not so much, not so bald. Not Spa forever, nor the Hungaroring from now on. "Yes, the truth is that it was a surprise this weekend, yesterday too, but we know there will be better and worse weekends." It remains to be seen how far this jumble of Aston Martin's evolutions and experiments will go these past two weekends. A floor here, another there, a new wing, a nose this, a flap that...

The AMR25 has already sold out , and its performance will depend on the type of track. The more aerodynamic efficiency it requires, the worse it is. Long straights and fast sections are agony. With medium, medium-long corners predominating, perhaps to fight for Q3. "We are fast and competitive, but the task ahead is to understand why so we can apply it in future races." If what happened at the Hungaroring was a surprise for the driver and team, it's something they still have to understand, so we can understand it for the rest of us.

Sainz: pick and shovel, sweat and no reward

Alonso and Verstappen, Aston Martin and Red Bull, epitomized the stark contrast that comes with a radical shift in performance depending on the track and the personality of the car. Sainz, on the other hand, is already anchored in the experience of having ridden down the competitive ladder of Formula 1 with Williams. Two different ways of experiencing the roller coaster of racing. And when he achieved a "clean" weekend and also outperformed his teammate, the Madrid native's final result was invisible.

The British team wanted to break new ground, and its two drivers went out on soft tyres. At the start, the Spaniard overtook Hamilton and Antonelli. From that moment on, it was a grind, sweating it out and no reward. "We did what we could. Starting on the soft to see if we could make a splash on the first lap and going for two stops, but in the end it proved to be one stop on a circuit that felt like Monaco," explained Sainz, referring to the value of track position. "In the end, it was the safest option and what was going to get you points . But if we had gone for one stop, we would have finished thirteenth or twelfth."

In fact, he was fourteenth when Gasly took him off the track in the closing stages of the race. "But if it weren't for that, it wouldn't have changed our lives much on a clean, decent weekend, but on a track where the car wasn't going." When the driver delivers, the car doesn't deliver. Sainz's fate in 2025.

Lately, the Madrid native's body language has been betraying signs of discouragement . Even James Vowles himself acknowledged at the Hungaroring that he's had good conversations with the Madrid native. " It's been a very tough first half of the season, with many ups and downs, with more downs than ups, to be honest, and although this weekend shows that when things aren't going our way, I'm fast in the car. On the weekends when we had a lot of points, we weren't there, and that's cost us a lot this first half." Thank goodness that summer "give me a break" is coming. Carlos Sainz needs it.