Stroll shares five-word verdict after ending Alonso's streak: 'I don't give a s***'

The Canadian driver finally managed to get the better of the two-time world champion, albeit by just 0.057s. That's the first time since last year's Chinese Grand Prix Sprint that the Canadian finished ahead of his experienced teammate. Looking at only Grands Prix, that last happened in Silverstone back in 2024.

The result, however, came in what was another extremely difficult session for Aston Martin. The team qualified on the back row of the grid in Barcelona, occupying the final two positions and finishing more than a second behind Cadillac, while trailing pole position by over four seconds.

Speaking to GPblog among other media, Stroll initially said"I don't care," when asked about outqualifying Alonso. When asked whether that reaction was a consequence of Aston Martin's struggles at the back of the grid rather than fighting near the front, the Canadian added: "I don't give a s***."

Asked to summarise his qualifying session and assess Aston Martin's prospects for Sunday's race, Stroll offered little optimism, suggesting the team would have to wait for its next upgrade package before expecting any significant improvement in performance. He continued: "We need to wait for the upgrade package. It is what it is. How it goes."

Ahead of the Barcelona weekend, Honda revealed that it already has a development plan in place for its ADUO upgrade package and is simply awaiting FIA approval before moving forward. Honda's chief executive Shintaro Orihara explained that the engineering groundwork has already been completed, with the manufacturer having identified the areas requiring improvement and the steps needed to implement them.

He also stressed that introducing a revised power unit is a lengthy process involving CFD simulations, single-cylinder testing, V6 performance runs and reliability checks, making it far from a short-term project. As a result, Honda has already begun the early phases of development despite the regulatory uncertainty.

When asked whether the upgrade could arrive before the summer break, however, Orihara remained deliberately vague, joking that while it might come in the summer, he could not specify whether that meant the summer in Greece, England or Japan.