The 2025 season is just getting started, yet with only two games completed, some Fantasy Managers already seem disappointed. Fernando Alonso, in fact, failed to take the checkered flag in either Australia or China, representing a real flop at Fanta F1. What can you do with the number 14?
The grill veteran staggers
43 years old and two world titles, but Fernando Alonso does not seem to have the slightest intention of leaving the grid until he has also won his third title. This ambition seemed achievable when Adrian Newey embraced the project Aston Martin. Yet since the beginning of the season, Alonso has not brought a single point to the team, unlike his teammate. And Lance Stroll, who can boast an excellent start to the season, with a sixth place in Melbourne, and a ninth place in Shanghai, is perhaps still spoken about too little.
According to his latest, the Asturian does not seem at all happy with the work the team is doing. “Zeros can become a habit this year for the Scuderia”, he has declared. “The top four teams are untouchable at the moment… the development of the car will be crucial”. Alonso was probably aware that Adrian Newey's presence in the team would start to bear fruit in 2026. However, he did not expect Aston Martin to slip further from its results of the previous season.
What's happening with Aston Martin?
It is well known that Aston Martin is not simply a Formula 1 team, but a complex set of financial maneuvers, at the top of which we find Lawrence stroll. In recent seasons, the company has faced a real financial crisis, which the F1 team has inevitably also fallen into. It would seem that the minority shares of the team in question will be sold. Although this should not have a dramatic impact on the team, as we will see it compete with the brand at least until 2030.
The possibility that, starting from this financial move, Stroll could invest a greater amount of money for the team, gives hope. Especially in view of 2026, when we will see the car designed by Newey take to the track, with on board, perhaps, some well-known faces from the house RedBull...
Could the aftershocks within the team be complicit in Fernando Alonso's collapse? Why, on the contrary, does Lance Stroll seem to benefit from it?
The brake disaster and the different cars of the Chinese GP
Fans and spectators do not seem to be able to explain the gap between the two Aston Martin drivers highlighted in the last two GPs. So to help these doubts, on the eve of the free practice sessions in Japan, the team principal of the team, Andy cowell, explains that the cause of Alonso's retirement during the Japanese GP was the brake set-up, which was different from that fitted to his teammate Stroll's car.
“The brakes felt extremely hot right from the start of the race,” says Alonso, blaming the team for a strategy that cost him the entire Shanghai Grand Prix. We would never want to think that the team is deliberately trying to disadvantage Alonso compared to his teammate, and yet in the last two races everything seemed to be going against the Spanish driver.
Flop at Fanta F1, what to do with the Spanish?
As for those who have fielded Alonso in Fanta F1 in the last two GPs, they will not have been particularly satisfied. As Alonso has accumulated an average of -9 points in both Grand Prix. What to do with the Spaniard then after the dramatic flop?
“Victories? Definitely not in 2025” , says Alonso himself in an interview, which does not bode well for all the Fantamanagers who were hoping to see him on the podium at least once this year. Suddenly the Spaniard no longer seems to be a guarantee for Fanta F1, which despite being on board a car that is not particularly competitive, has always brought great satisfaction.
Most likely we won't find him among this week's recommendations for the Suzuka Grand Prix. He has already dropped in value in the previous weeks, from 16 YAW a 15 YAW. If this weekend goes badly, will we still see him in the teams after Japan? In light of what we have learned, fielding the Spaniard this Suzuka weekend seems like a good idea only in the hope that he finishes last. As for his teammate… could Lance Stroll become a resource to be re-evaluated?
