Lance StrollPlayer·Lance Stroll ended his run of 42 straight qualifying defeats to Fernando AlonsoPlayer·Fernando Alonso in Barcelona on Saturday, beating his Aston Martin teammate by 0.057 seconds at the Circuit de Barcelona-CatalunyaVenue·Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Stroll qualified 21st, with Alonso last, in a result that broke a streak stretching back to the British Grand PrixCompetition·British Grand Prix in 2024.
It was the first time since that weekend that Stroll finished a Formula 1Competition·Formula 1 qualifying session ahead of Alonso, and the margin was enough to halt a sequence that had become one of the most one-sided teammate battles on the grid. For Aston Martin, the result brought a small but notable change in a duel that has often leaned heavily toward the Spaniard.
The significance for Alonso was statistical as well as sporting. According to the source data, this was the first time since the Malaysian Grand PrixCompetition·Malaysian Grand Prix in 2001 that he qualified 22nd on pure pace. That Sepang race was only the second Formula 1Competition·Formula 1 start of his career, and Barcelona will now mark his 432nd world championship start on Sunday.
For Stroll, the outcome matters because it interrupts the narrative of relentless comparison inside Aston Martin, where every session has carried extra scrutiny. The Canadian had not finished a qualifying session ahead of Alonso for nearly two years, and the breakthrough arrives at a time when the team’s overall form has been uneven.
Aston Martin marked the end of qualifying with a brief social post, underlining the closure of a session that delivered a rare internal reversal. The team now turns to the race, where the grid position will offer both drivers a chance to reset the conversation after a day that shifted momentum, however slightly, in Stroll’s favour.
Aston Martin F1 drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll at the Miami Grand Prix. Eibner/IMAGO
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