Stroll's health issues handed Alonso more track time on final day of testing in Bahrain

After Lance Stroll felt unwell on the third and final day of pre-season testing, Fernando Alonso jumped back into Aston Martin's AMR25 to bring the Silverstone-based outfit's test outing to an end.

After sitting out the morning session due to not feeling “100%”, Lance Stroll had initially returned to action for the afternoon but, after completing 34 laps, handed over to Fernando Alonso due to still feeling unwell.

This led to the team quickly working to prepare the car for Alonso, something that they were able to do in enough time to get the Spaniard out on track for the final hour under the floodlights at the Bahrain International Circuit.

Commenting on the three-day testing in Bahrain, Alonso said that AMR25 was a step forward compared to its predecessor, but he is yet to analyse the performance of rival teams.

"I've had a short pre-season testing as we encountered a few small issues and the weather impacted our running a little over the three days, but it was the same for everyone.

"I haven't followed the results of testing because we have just been focussing on our programme during the test. We do have some positives with the new car compared to 2024, but there are still some things that we need to work on and improve as we prepare for Australia.

"We experimented a little with some mechanical changes during the test but the track conditions were not at their best. It's only testing and we won't know how everyone looks until Qualifying in Melbourne."

After his difficult final day in Bahrain, Stroll has revealed that Aston Martin will need to iron out several issues with the new car.

"Getting back to work at testing and feeling the new car is always an exciting time of the year. A lot of effort has gone into the AMR25 over the winter to try and improve various car characteristics, so it was nice to get my first feeling for those changes this week.

"You always learn so much from those first moments in the car and there are some things that feel better, but it is still very early days and difficult to say too much until we get to Melbourne.

"The final day of running was a bit disrupted because I was feeling unwell. I managed to do 34 laps this afternoon but Fernando took over to finish the session."