When an Aston Martin F1 car crashes… repair costs

A minor mistake or just a few seconds of error can erase hours of work by the mechanics and significantly increase costs. How much does a crash during the race weekend affect the budget

It was a promising day in terms of performance for the two Aston Martin F1 AMR25s of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll during Friday’s free practice sessions. The British team finished both sessions in the upper part of the standings, showing solid pace and positioning themselves as strong contenders for Sunday’s points. However, there were some setbacks, especially in FP2, when the Canadian driver hit the barriers at Turn 3, the banked Hugenholtz corner. The incident appears to have been caused by a lock-up of the front-left wheel, which led to a loss of control and the subsequent impact. Fortunately, the driver quickly confirmed he was unharmed.

Now, let’s look at the damage sustained by the Aston Martin F1 AMR25. The entire right side of the car was nearly destroyed after hitting the wall at around 160 km/h. As confirmed by post-session videos and images, the mechanics will need to work overtime tonight to rebuild the car in time for FP3.

The front wing and nose were the first parts to hit the barriers, absorbing much of the kinetic energy, along with the front and rear right-side suspension components, which will need to be fully replaced for safety reasons. The rear wing was also completely destroyed, causing additional damage to the floor and diffuser.

Now, focusing on the car’s core—the chassis—it may have avoided critical structural damage, but it will undergo thorough inspections by the team. If a full replacement is needed, repair costs could skyrocket. Other potentially affected components, such as the engine, gearbox, and exhaust system, would require even more time, effort, and budget to fix.

Aston Martin F1 website https://www.astonmartinf1.com/en-GB

Estimated repair costs for the Aston Martin F1 Team

Front wing + nose: fully replaced, with parts costing around 150,000 due to high design and manufacturing complexity, especially for the wing.

Rear wing: also fully replaced. Price similar to the front one, about150,000.

Suspension (front & rear): estimated between 200,000–300,000, including dampers and reinforcement arms.

Floor & sidepods: mainly made of carbon fibre—expensive, light and strong, designed to optimize airflow and generate downforce. Including development, approx. 250,000.

Gearbox: here’s where the real pain begins (if it hadn’t already). A gearbox costs roughly500,000.

Chassis and survival cell: if fully damaged and needing total replacement, a new unit costs around 700,000. Partial repairs done at the factory could bring the cost down to roughly 350.000$

At the beginning of each year, teams set aside an “incident fund” to cover potential damages during the season, amounting to about 15% of their annual budget, roughly 13 million dollars. Aston Martin, as a mid-to-high tier team, might need to use around 1-2% of its annual funds for this single incident. In 2023, Williams spent an incredible 7 million dollars on repairs, which compromised the development of their car.