Pedro de la Rosa: Reality must be reckoned with

      Pedro de la Rosa, a former Formula 1 racer who now serves as an ambassador for Aston Martin F1, closely followed the progress of the pre-season tests in Bahrain from the team's boxes and shared some of his observations with the Spanish press.

      In particular, he said that both drivers, Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, are not quite comfortable in the cockpit of the AMR25.

      "When the car is new, it always happens," Marca newspaper quotes de la Rosa as saying, "but this is not a very serious problem, typical for the winter off–season. Although I am surprised that the seats were not the best fit, because the AMR25 uses many components from last year's car.

      During the tests, the team primarily focused on improving the efficiency of the machine, trying to make its behavior more predictable – this was the task we faced in the process of preparing for 2025.

      It's really easier to drive the AMR25, and it's faster than last year's car, but we didn't think it was advisable to run a full race simulation in such cold weather, as it wouldn't do much good. In theory, technical reliability should be at about the same level as last year, and we wouldn't know much about tire performance at such temperatures either.

      When we return to Bahrain in April, the lap results will be almost a couple of seconds worse, so we thought there were more priorities right now than working on race pace. This was the decision of the engineers, who also listened to the opinion of our tire specialist. And the riders were in complete agreement with him.

      If we talk about lap results, Carlos Sainz was the fastest. But how much fuel was in the tank of his car? And does this mean that Williams will be the first in terms of speed? Of course not. We did not go to the track with a minimum fuel load, and we did not simulate qualifying, although we do not have accurate information about the programs that other teams were working on.

      This does not mean that we did not take the tests seriously. I think there were some positive things in the comments from our riders, but they also said that it was necessary to improve in a number of aspects."

      When Pedro was asked about the changes that are taking place with Aston Martin in connection with the large-scale modernization of the team's infrastructure, he said: "I think we rely a lot on the new tools that the team now has at its disposal. In the short term, the significant difference from last season is that the quality of these tools has already improved. Thanks to the new simulator and the new production capabilities that the team now has, we are able to react faster, produce new parts much faster, meaning we can act more quickly.

      The new wind tunnel has not yet been launched, but it will be operational very soon. The last tests and the last checks are underway, which are called commissioning works. But we also have yet to go through the FIA inspection.

      In my opinion, the deadlines are generally met. The wind tunnel is due to be operational this month, and when Adrian Newey joins us, the team will be able to provide him with all the best tools, and this is very important.

      Is it possible to say that I have an optimistic attitude? I prefer to remain realistic. I think we're going to have to put in a lot of effort and really push ourselves to make improvements, but that's what happens every year.

      I am optimistic in the sense that the team has now received excellent equipment, and we strive to become better at all levels. I would like to see the results this year, but we have to face reality, don't you agree? In any case, I am full of hope and I feel really inspired."