F1 Australian Grand Prix: Aston Martin nightmare deepens with Fernando Alonso ruled out of practice

Fernando Alonso in front of the Australian flag — Photo: © IMAGO

Australian Grand Prix

Aston Martin nightmare deepens with Fernando Alonso ruled out of Australian Grand Prix practice

The F1 team owned by Lawrence Stroll had another power unit issue in Melbourne

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Friday 6 March 2026 02:47 Updated: 13:39

Aston Martin F1 star Fernando Alonso has been forced to withdraw from the first practice session of the 2026 championship at this weekend's Australian Grand Prix.

The Spaniard's F1 squad have had a disastrous start to the new campaign which is seeing a complete overhaul of chassis and power unit regulations, with his AMR26 car suffering frequent problems with the new Honda power unit.

And the team who are competing under the watchful eye of Adrian Newey this season have encountered another issue before even taking to the track in Melbourne, with Alonso confirmed to not be taking part in the FP1 session at all after the team found yet another suspected power unit related issue.

Article continues under video

A statement from Aston Martin said: "We found a suspected PU related issue which will prevent Fernando to participate in FP1."

Alonso's team-mate Lance Stroll was able to get out on track, but his session also came to an early end following a power-unit related fault having not been able to set a reasonable lap time at 30 seconds behind Charles Leclerc who was quickest in FP1

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

Will Aston Martin DNF at Australian Grand Prix?

Alonso's absence from FP1 will bring an obvious disadvantage to Aston Martin, who need all the data they can get this weekend from both Alonso and Stroll as they continue to attempt to diagnose their power unit woes.

In a press conference with Newey on Thursday ahead of the track action, the team's managing technical partner and team principal revealed that Aston Martin's driver duo had both aired concerns that attempting to complete the full length 58-lap Australian GP on Sunday could leave them with 'permanent nerve damage'.

"Fernando is of the feeling that he can’t do more than 25 laps consecutively before he will risk permanent nerve damage into his hands," Newey told media.

"Lance is of the opinion that he can’t do more than 15 laps before that threshold.

"We are going to have to be very heavily restricted on how many laps we do in the race until we get on top of the source of the vibration and improve the vibration at source."

As the news of Alonso's power unit issue hit Sky Sports early during Friday's session, F1 broadcasting icon Martin Brundle added that this issue could persist for Aston Martin for as long as 'six months'.

Melbourne practice plagued by early issues

But as dire as Aston Martin's situation is right now, they were far from the only team to experience issues early on at Albert Park Circuit on Friday.

Just minutes after the session had officially started, the first virtual safety car of the 2026 season was triggered after this year's one and only rookie Arvid Lindblad stopped at the pit lane exit with 55 minutes left in the session.

The Racing Bulls driver was left stranded after experiencing what appeared to be a software glitch, with stewards required to come and wheel him back to the garage.

But as the 18-year-old was tentatively wheeled back in, the pit lane remained open, with Mercedes having just released Kimi Antonelli out on to the circuit.

As a safety precaution to steady the cars that remained on track as Lindblad sat stationary at the end of the pit lane, a virtual safety car was brought out.

Home hero Oscar Piastri was also struck by a potential problem early on after also experiencing what Ted Kravitz believed to be a software issue.

Piastri took to McLaren team radio, again, just minutes after FP1 had started, saying: "I'm idling but I've got no throttle."

The Aussie driver's complaints were then backed up by a similar worrying message from his champion team-mate Lando Norris, who could be heard saying: "Downshifts are shocking, all shifts. Something doesn't feel right."

After Piastri returned to the garage for a quick check up on his MCL40, he managed to get back out onto the circuit with 35 minutes left of practice.

F1 Aston Martin Adrian Newey Fernando Alonso 2026 regulations Australian Grand Prix