Aston Martin burns the midnight oil to rebuild Stroll’s AMR25 after Zandvoort shunt — cleared for FP3
Lance Stroll will be back in the car for FP3 at the Dutch Grand Prix after Aston Martin rebuilt his AMR25 around a fresh survival cell overnight, using one of their permitted curfew exceptions to get the repair signed off before Saturday running.
Stroll triggered red flags in FP2 with a heavy hit at Zandvoort’s banked Turn 3 — the sort of snap that turns a good Friday into a very long night. He’d started the weekend on the front foot with third in FP1, but a lock-up on entry pitched the Canadian into the barriers and left the right-hand side of the Aston looking very second-hand.
“I’m fine,” came the immediate radio call, and later the more reflective version on F1TV: “Just a little lock-up, and then from there I was just a passenger. Just one of those things.” The car, however, was anything but fine. Aston Martin replaced the survival cell, a major job that triggered an FIA curfew breach — within the rules, as teams are granted two “individual exceptions” per season.
Per the governing body, Aston personnel were inside the circuit across the 11.5-hour restricted window beginning at 21:00 on Friday, running up to three hours before the FP3 start. It was Aston Martin’s first use of the allowance in 2025, so no penalty applies. Racing Bulls also dipped into their own first exception on Friday night.
The rebuilt No.18 passed scrutineering ahead of final practice, the FIA confirming Aston’s paperwork after the chassis swap was in order. That gets Stroll back on track for a vital hour of running at a venue that rewards rhythm and punishes hesitation.
There was pace in the green cars before the accident. Stroll looked lively early; Fernando Alonso backed that up in FP2 while Stroll watched on with an ice pack. Small consolation, but it’s the kind of baseline speed that keeps mechanics’ heads down and sockets spinning into the small hours with a purpose.
Zandvoort’s T3, with its steep camber and deceptive lines, has caught out better than most, and Stroll’s moment was one of those tiny misjudgements that balloon into major repairs. The survival cell change is the big one — the structural heart of the car — and a rarity on a Friday night. It tells you the hit was significant and that the team wasn’t interested in rolling the dice on borderline parts 24 hours before qualifying.
The bigger picture? With the car now legal and live, Aston Martin’s Saturday plan shifts back to normal service: restore confidence, verify the chassis baseline, then reconnect with a set-up window that looked promising before the interruption. If the FP1 form is real, the team will want both cars in the thick of it when qualifying bites.
Stroll, for his part, sounded eager to reset. “We looked competitive all the way throughout the day, and again Fernando now in FP2. I think we’re in a good spot; let’s see what we can do tomorrow.”
Curfew breaches always catch the eye, but this one lands firmly in the “no drama” file. It’s simply the cost of getting a car back from a heavy shunt in time to matter. The mechanics did their bit. Now it’s over to Stroll to make the late shift worth it.
