- Sergio Perez wants Aston Martin to stay slow so he can keep racing Alonso.
- Alonso held Perez off in the sprint and the grand prix, both times by one place.
- Honda’s massive power unit deficit may decide how long this rivalry stays alive.
Sergio Perez enjoyed racing Fernando Alonso so much at the 2026 Miami Grand Prix that he does not want it to stop.
The Cadillac driver said after the weekend that he hopes Aston Martin stays close enough in pace for the battles to continue.
“I hope Aston Martin doesn’t improve too quickly so I can keep having fun with Fernando,” Perez said in comments shared on X.
The two drivers spent much of the Miami weekend racing each other across both the sprint and the grand prix. Alonso finished 15th in each, with Perez one place behind in 16th on both occasions.
Neither result earned points, but the contest between them drew attention all the same.
Perez praised Alonso’s approach to wheel-to-wheel racing.
“Fernando has great racecraft, and he’s very clean,” he said. “Fighting with him is always a lot of fun because he’s super aggressive and super smart.”
Perez also noted that Alonso races with clear tactical intent.
“You know that when he pulls away, he’s planning something. And when he closes in, the same. He always plans his moves,” Perez added.
Perez v Alonso: A rivalry forged over more than a decade
This is not the first time Perez has spoken in those terms about racing Alonso.
At the 2023 Brazilian Grand Prix, the two drivers finished third and fourth, separated by just 0.053 seconds at the line. Alonso held the podium position.
Perez told Spanish media afterwards that the fight had been genuinely enjoyable.
“It was a really fun race,” he said. “Because fighting with a driver like Alonso at the limit, I think with 95% of the grid, I would’ve crashed.”
He added that the contest required a level of trust between two drivers.
“It was a great fight with Fernando. I don’t think with a lot of drivers, you can do these types of manoeuvres. It was really tight from beginning to the end.”
The two share a culture and a language. Their rivalry reaches back to the 2012 Malaysian Grand Prix, where Alonso beat Perez to victory at Sepang. Over the years, as both moved through different teams, the respect between them has only grown.
Miami 2026: Battling at the back with pride
The Miami weekend also told a story about where both teams sit in 2026.
Alonso qualified 17th, and Perez started from 20th. Both Aston Martin and Cadillac are working through difficult seasons under the new regulations.
Their contest began in the sprint race. On lap 18 of 19, Alonso moved past his teammate Lance Stroll and began closing on Perez.
On the final lap, Perez lost power on the back straight due to energy depletion and moved inside to defend. Alonso crossed the line in 15th, with Perez in 16th.
The main race followed a similar pattern. By lap 40, Alonso was running 15th on his original set of medium tyres, having not yet stopped, and Perez was directly behind him.
The two swapped positions at various points before the race settled into its final order, Alonso 15th and Perez 16th.
Two teams in very different kinds of trouble
For Cadillac, the Miami result carried some encouragement. The team brought a significant upgrade package to the race, covering the floor, front wing, diffuser and rear suspension.
Perez pointed to that progress when he told the media simply, “We were racing,” a nod to his car’s ability to stay with the field.
He has now completed every grand prix and sprint race in 2026, and he has named scoring the team’s first points before the summer break as his target.
Aston Martin’s problems run deeper. Honda’s power unit has produced severe vibration since pre-season testing. The resonance damages batteries and has caused physical discomfort to the drivers.
Paddock estimates put Honda’s energy recovery deficit at around 100 kW, which is roughly 136 horsepower.
At the Chinese Grand Prix, the vibrations forced Alonso to retire. Honda introduced countermeasures ahead of Suzuka, allowing him to at least finish races since then.
Alonso has addressed the situation with characteristic lightness. He has described 2026 as a “battery world championship” and said his team is “not as good as the others” in that area.
Looking ahead
The F1 calendar moves to Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix from May 22 to 24.
Whether Perez and Alonso will find themselves racing each other again depends on how quickly both teams develop their cars. Cadillac has upgrades planned at regular intervals.
Aston Martin is waiting on the FIA’s Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities window to help Honda address its power unit deficit.
For now, Perez seems perfectly content racing his old friend at the back of the pack.
Whether Aston Martin will oblige his wish and stay within reach remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: whenever Perez and Alonso end up side by side, the fans are in for a treat.
