F1 2026: Fernando Alonso lays out bleak Aston Martin Chinese Grand Prix expectations after Honda disaster

Chinese Grand Prix

Fernando Alonso lays out bleak Aston Martin Chinese GP expectations after Honda disaster

Aston Martin's first Honda PU is a source of much misery for the F1 team

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Wednesday 11 March 2026 10:56

Two-time F1 champion Fernando Alonso has painted a rather uninspiring picture of Aston Martin's chances of improving at this weekend's Chinese Grand Prix having failed to complete the first round of the 2026 season.

It was considered a victory of sorts when Aston Martin managed to successfully wheel both cars out of the garage for last weekend's season-opening Australian GP given the squad's ongoing struggles with their Honda power unit.

The new partnership between Adrian Newey's F1 team and the Japanese PU provider have so far seen nothing but problems after Aston Martin put in the least amount of laps out of all the teams at both the January Barcelona shakedown and the February pre-season tests in Bahrain.

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As a result, the team pretty much treated last weekend's race in Melbourne as another testing opportunity, with both Alonso and his team-mate Lance Stroll heading back into the pits to complete a lengthy wait before going back out to get laps in as opposed to competing.

Alonso eventually retired from the grand prix for good on lap 36 of the race, bringing Aston Martin their first DNF of the year.

Stroll managed to cross the line, albeit last of the remaining drivers on track and 15 laps behind his nearest challenger, telling media after the race: "Racing is a strong word, but we got out, we did some… we recirculated."

And unluckily for Aston Martin, there is no time to rest between rounds, with the second race weekend of the season coming up in Shanghai in just a couple of days time.

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Alonso warns of 'no difference' to Aston Martin struggles ahead of Chinese GP

Ahead of last weekend's race, Newey admitted that both Stroll and Alonso had voiced concerns over suffering permanent nerve damage if they attempted to complete between 15 and 25 consecutive laps in Melbourne due to vibrations coming from the Honda PU.

Neither driver completed a full-length grand prix, meaning the concerns around the team's ability to even complete a full race have not subsided ahead of this weekend's race in China.

Following his first DNF of the season, Alonso was asked whether he could see the team's difficulties improving ahead of the second championship round, and was quoted by Crash.net as saying: "No different, no different."

"For sure, we have the same car, the same power unit next weekend. So I expect another tough weekend. But meanwhile, we cannot give up.

"We need to keep on trying different solutions, especially on the chassis, and try to understand and get better in the package in general. I think we are not optimised in anything yet, because the lack of mileage, so China will be another good opportunity."

Regarding the vibrations, the 44-year-old added: "It's not the best feeling driving with this level of vibrations.

"I think Honda thinks that the vibrations of the battery are reduced since Bahrain, with some of the modifications, but that didn't happen to the chassis yet because they need to isolate the battery in a different way.

“So I think it will take a little bit more time, but we try to do our best and to do as many laps as possible to help the team."

When is the next F1 race?

Aston Martin hope to be back in action for the second round of the F1 2026 season at this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix.

The main race will take place on Sunday, March 15, at 3pm local time (CST), 7am GMT, and 3am ET, but Shanghai will also stage the first of six sprint races this year, with a full sprint schedule in play for this weekend.

Written by

Kerry Violet - F1 News Editor

Having graduated from the University of Sheffield with a 2:1 in Journalism in 2022, Kerry continued her pursuit of finding a full-time position in motorsport through work with the F1 Arcade in London, where she got to meet true fans of the sport and make a live grand prix watch party memorable for them. It was here that she confirmed her dream of combining her background in journalism and love of motorsport, going on to volunteer with the female-led platform Empoword Journalism. Having completed stints as a screen editor and sports editor, Kerry landed her first F1-specific editorial role with GPFans and has thoroughly enjoyed continuing to work closely with the sport ever since. The access GPFans offers Kerry has allowed her to interview big names such as Naomi Schiff and David Coulthard and given her experiences she could only have dreamt of as a young F1 fan.

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F1 Aston Martin Fernando Alonso 2026 regulations Chinese Grand Prix Honda