Aston Martin

F1 2026: Fernando Alonso shares Aston Martin update and explains nerve damage risk

Alonso delivered a bold statement to media in Melbourne on Thursday

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Accredited motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Thursday 5 March 2026 21:57

Fernando Alonso has put on a strong front after concerns emerged Aston Martin would be unable to finish the first race of the 2026 F1 season, the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park in Melbourne.

Aston Martin's disastrous Bahrain test, where they only accumulated 128 laps in the second week, has given way to an even worse start to the 2026 season.

The full extent of the AMR26's issues were unveiled by team principal Adrian Newey when he arrived in Melbourne for the Australian Grand Prix, reporting vibrations from the Honda engine into the chassis,

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These vibrations could cause nerve damage, with drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll revealing that they would only be able to cover 15-25 laps of the Albert Park Circuit.

Reports have even emerged that Aston Martin could implore with the FIA to allow them to 'skip' the first few races of the season, although this would be a breach of the Concorde Agreement.

F1 HEADLINES: Newey to face the music as FIA announce Australian Grand Prix U-turn

Alonso: 'If we finish the race, it will motivate everybody'

The bleak reality for Aston Martin feels an age away from the hope prior to the F1 season, with 2026 and Newey's expertise meant to propel them into the championship fight.

Vibrations in the Honda engine are the main cause of their reliability issues, with the potential nerve damage a problem alongside mirrors and tail lights falling off.

Aston Martin have introduced countermeasures on the car, to stop the vibrations from the engine leading to failures in the batteries in the engine's hybrid system.

However, Aston Martin will not know if these have been successful until they take to the track on Friday. Nevertheless, speaking to the media ahead of the weekend, Alonso was motivated to finish Sunday's race.

When asked by Sky Sports' Ted Kravitz what his role was going forwards at the team, Alonso responded: "I hope to finish the race first of all. It's true that in Bahrain we face this anomalous vibrations coming from the engine and I think they are understood, there were couple of solutions on the dyno since Bahrain and few of them there were positive.

"So hopefully we will have a better feeling now in FP1. But at the moment, that was, reliability wise, tough because we couldn't complete the programme in testing because the car was having an issue because of the vibrations, always something breaks down.

"We need to fix that first and as I said, I'm optimistic that after the changes they made the last week we can have a more normal weekend and that will be the first step to motivate everyone in the team. If we can finish the race unexpectedly that will be a good first race of the year."

Aston Martin Fernando Alonso Australian Grand Prix