Fernando Alonso says it may take “a couple of grand prix” before Aston Martin can complete a normal race weekend in 2026.
Speaking to the media in Shanghai ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix, the two-time champion described a two-phase recovery plan for the team after a troubled start to the season.
The 44-year-old driver said Aston Martin must first fix serious reliability issues before it can even think about performance. He warned that the team still faces many unknown problems that appear each day. His comments came during the Thursday press conference before the race weekend in China.
The remarks followed a chaotic opening race at the Australian Grand Prix and a difficult pre-season. Alonso told reporters that simply finishing practice sessions and races has become the team’s short-term goal.
Alonso speaks candidly about the team’s struggles
During the Shanghai press conference, Fernando Alonso was asked a direct question: when will Aston Martin have a normal weekend again?
Alonso paused before answering. He said the team cannot yet fully predict when the problems will stop.
“Yeah, difficult to guess… I don’t know really,” Alonso told the media. “You know, we still have too many unknown issues that are coming day after day from nowhere. So it seems that we are not on top of the problems yet, and that’s why it’s difficult to guess.”
He still believes progress could come soon.
“But, you know, we are pushing, we have professionals and talented people in the team,” Alonso said. “So I hope, by a couple of grand prix, we can have a normal weekend. Well, at least in terms of doing laps and completing the sessions.”
He then explained that the team has two battles to fight before they can even start to be competetive.
“Then to be competitive, I think that will take more time, to be honest, because once we fix the reliability, then we will be behind in terms of power and things,” he said. “So you know there are two steps, let’s say, and hopefully the first step will come soon.”
His words set clear priorities. First, make the car run. Only then can the team chase speed.
How Aston Martin got here
Aston Martin entered 2026 with high hopes. The AMR26 is the first car designed by Adrian Newey for the team and the first powered by Honda’s new RA626H engine.
The project marked the start of a new works partnership with Honda. Many in the paddock expected the program to launch a new era for the team.
Instead, the season began in crisis.
Honda confirmed that severe vibration from the power unit caused major problems. Engineers warned the vibrations were strong enough to risk nerve damage if drivers stayed in the car for long runs.
Newey said before the Melbourne race that Alonso and Lance Stroll feared they could suffer permanent nerve damage if they drove more than 15 to 25 laps at a time.
Testing already exposed the scale of the problem. Honda used most of its spare parts during pre-season testing in Bahrain. By the time the season opener arrived, the team even discussed limiting running to save components.
A season-opener in name only
The race weekend in Melbourne showed how deep the trouble runs.
Aston Martin recorded the fewest laps during both the Barcelona shakedown and the Bahrain test. When the Australian race began, the team focused on survival rather than results.
During the race, Alonso’s car created confusion in the paddock. On lap 15, he appeared to retire and pit the car. Eleven laps later, he returned to the track.
He finally retired on lap 39.
The team later said the strange sequence came from a radio mistake, not a planned strategy. Stroll also retired around lap 43 and was not classified because he failed to complete 90% of the race distance.
“Racing is a strong word,” Stroll told the media afterwards. “But we got out, we did some… we recirculated.”
Two problems, not one
Alonso’s two-step explanation reflects what engineers inside the team also see.
First, Aston Martin must solve the vibration and reliability issues linked to the Honda engine. Only after that can the team measure the car’s real pace.
Newey described the vibration as a complex engineering problem.
“It’s not going to be a quick fix because this involves fundamental balancing and damping projects,” he said. “At the moment, this vibration issue is sucking all energy in every area.”
The vibrations also affect drivers in different ways than the battery problems engineers are studying. That means solving one issue may not fix the other.
Even if reliability improves, Aston Martin will still face a performance gap. Honda’s power unit may lack output compared with rival suppliers, and the team already missed valuable testing mileage.
Alonso also admitted the team arrived in China short on spare parts. Failures during testing forced Honda to use much of its stock before the season even began.
Still, the Melbourne weekend gave the team some useful data. Engineers collected information from formation laps, race starts, and pit stops that they had never practised in testing.
The race in Shanghai, which includes the first sprint event of the season, offers another chance to gather laps and answers.
For now, Alonso’s target remains modest. He simply wants a weekend where the car runs from start to finish. Whether that happens within his “couple of grand prix” window may shape the story of Aston Martin’s 2026 season.
