Fernando Alonso explains what two things Aston Martin are ‘missing’ to become F1 champions

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Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso will be celebrating the 20th anniversary of his first Formula 1 world championship next year.

Back in 2005, Renault were the dominant force in F1 and Fernando Alonso won his first title alongside teammate Giancarlo Fisichella before repeating the feat the following year.

Alonso won seven races and only failed to finish on the podium on four occasions that year, including the infamous race at Indianapolis, where only six drivers started the Grand Prix.

The year afterwards, Alonso repeated the feat, holding off the legendary Michael Schumacher during what was expected to be his final season in F1 before his surprise comeback with Mercedes.

Schumacher left F1, came back and retired again, and more than 10 years later, Alonso is still going, chasing an elusive third championship title.

READ MORE: Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso’s life outside F1 from net worth to Cars 2

At the Mexico City Grand Prix, Alonso will celebrate becoming the first driver in Formula 1 history to reach 400 race entries.

However, the 43-year-old hasn’t won a race in over a decade and Aston Martin have been going backwards all season.

Alonso was speaking on the Beyond The Grid Podcast and explained what steps Aston Martin need to take to become championship contenders.

It seems incredibly unlikely that they’re going to make that step over the winter heading into the final year of the current regulations.

However, everything changes in 2026 and while that might be Aston Martin’s best hope, Alonso admits time is running out for him to return to the top step of the podium.

Fernando Alonso shares the only things Aston Martin are missing to become F1 champions

Asked if Aston Martin now have everything in place to produce a championship-winning car, Alonso said: “I do believe so.

“I think for me, the only thing that we are missing and we are not up to speed [with] is just time.

“If you compare [us] to any other title contender, we are just three, four years old.

“So naturally, we have to learn through mistakes. We have to take some lessons from the mistakes that we will do.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Aston Martin F1 Team from team principal to lineage

“And this is the only thing that is missing or we will face in the next few years, which at the same time is my biggest enemy because I don’t have that time to go through that process of making mistakes and learn from those.

“The wind tunnel and Adrian were the two biggest things that we missed most in the last two seasons.

“Having our own wind tunnel in-house where you can produce a part, test it, analyze it, maybe come back tomorrow. We don’t have [that] now.

“We are just using the Mercedes wind tunnel when we are allowed to in their time they tell us, this is what we have and this is going to be a game-changer for the team.

“Then Adrian is just the man producing the fastest cars in the world. Plus, I think he will be a great leader for a lot of young people we have.”

Fernando Alonso names the most demanding race in his F1 career

If Alonso is going to be an F1 race winner again – let alone a world champion – he’s going to have to defeat some of the fastest drivers he’s ever come up against in his career.

Alonso and Lewis Hamilton have had some incredible battles in the past and the Brit will hope a resurgent Ferrari can help him win a record-breaking eighth title.

Max Verstappen is already a Formula 1 great and showing no signs of slowing down, while drivers such as Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc all have world championship-winning potential, although Eddie Jordan has questioned Lando Norris’s credentials.

If Alonso is going to fight against the very best in F1 in the future, he needs an Adrian Newey-led team to build a car capable of winning races.

Alonso has shared the most demanding race of his F1 career but that answer might change if he’s forced to battle the likes of Verstappen and Hamilton in wheel-to-wheel action once again.

His move on Sergio Perez at the Brazilian Grand Prix won the FIA’s ‘Action of the Year’ highlighting that despite his age, he’s still got it.