Fernando Alonso crashes in Canadian Grand Prix qualifying but it's good news for Aston Martin

Fernando Alonso in Shanghai — Photo: © IMAGO

Canadian Grand Prix

Fernando Alonso crashes in Canada qualifying but it's good news for Aston Martin

Alonso crashed

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Friday 22 May 2026 23:00

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F1 champion Fernando Alonso crashed out of sprint qualifying at the Canadian Grand Prix, but still managed to get his Aston Martin into SQ2.

Alonso locked up into Turn 3 and, unable to take the escape road, the front end of his AMR26 ended up in the wall.

The Spaniard instantly caused a red flag, but fortunately for Aston Martin, it ensured Alonso's position of P14 was protected and he progressed through to SQ2.

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SQ1 resumed at 16:59 local time (ET) with one minute and 46 seconds left on the clock, but it was too late for anyone to improve and knock Alonso out.

It incredibly marks Aston Martin's first Q2 appearance in 2026, in what has been a woeful season for the team.

Alonso speaks out after SQ1 crash

Speaking to Sky Sports' Rachel Brookes after the crash, Alonso explained: "I locked up the front and there is no room to avoid anything here in Canada. Too much on the limit.

"We are a little behind with the pace so we were pushing seven or eight places more than we should have."

Alonso's team-mate, Lance Stroll, wasn't as quick as Alonso, however, and was knocked out of SQ1 alongside Valtteri Bottas, Sergio Perez and Pierre Gasly, while Liam Lawson and Alex Albon failed to even take part in sprint qualifying.

F1 Aston Martin Fernando Alonso