F1 Chinese Grand Prix: Fernando Alonso gesture to rival during race sums up dismal Aston Martin

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin, China, 2026 — Photo: © IMAGO

Chinese Grand Prix

Fernando Alonso gesture to F1 rival during Chinese Grand Prix sums up dismal Aston Martin

Oh Fernando...

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Sunday 15 March 2026 08:48 Updated: 09:14

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Fernando Alonso's sass knows no bounds after his gesture to an F1 rival at the Chinese Grand Prix summed up Aston Martin's 2026.

The Spaniard once again found himself languishing at the bottom of the field, and to say Alonso was 'doing battle' with the Cadillac's would be an egregious inaccuracy.

As his AMR26 vibrated down the straight the Cadillac of Sergio Perez cruised past him, to which Alonso could only offer a hearty wave as if on Sunday drive around Monaco.

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Cadillac are an entirely new F1 outfit, starting from scratch in 2026 as they build towards becoming points contenders, a stark contrast to the established outfit of Aston Martin.

Aston Martin nightmare continues

Alonso was the sole Aston Martin running the race after team-mate Lance Stroll stopped on track on lap 11, causing a safety car.

If Aston Martin complete a full race distance in Shanghai it will be a step up from Australia, where both cars were retired due to vibrations from the Honda engine.

Speaking ahead of the Chinese GP weekend, Alonso outlined Aston Martin's goals and said to Sky Sports: "We are at square one so we limit the laps. We really need to be able to practice and find the window on the car on the chassis side. That will be very important for the weekend.

"I will be happy if we leave China with a more or less normal free practice, a more or less normal qualifying accumulating laps, and probably attempt to do the full race on Sunday if we’re allowed."

On lap 33 however, this dream wasn't realised and Alonso returned to the pits where he retired his Aston Martin. The team released a statement on social media, which read: "Fernando has retired from the Chinese GP due to discomfort from vibrations."