F1 Monza: FIA announce pit lane start for Fernando Alonso at Italian Grand Prix

Fernando Alonso

FIA announce pit lane start for F1 champion at Italian Grand Prix

Alonso took a new engine overnight

Graham Shaw Consultant Editor

Digital sports specialist running global brands for 30 years

Sunday 6 September 2026 12:24 Updated: 12:54

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Two-time F1 world champion Fernando Alonso will start Sunday's Italian Grand Prix from the pit lane.

The FIA confirmed on Sunday morning that the 45-year-old Aston Martin star took new engine components overnight which are outside his allotted allowance.

The move comes with the Spaniard's AMR26 continuing to struggle for power due to the much-documented issues with the team's Honda power unit.

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The Japanese giant brought its first upgraded power unit to the recent Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort.

Alonso had initially qualified 21st for Sunday's race, with only team-mate Lance Stroll behind him.

An Aston Martin statement read: "Yesterday in Q1 we identified some abnormal behaviour (in the data) on some of the PU components of Fernando's car. This prevented Fernando from completing a final run in qualifying.

"We worked on the car overnight as a result and Fernando's car will start the race from the pit lane."

Red Bull's Liam Lawson will also start Sunday's race from the pit lane. He was already set to start from the back after a 35-place grid penalty for power unit component changes. But now it is a pit lane start following rear wing changes made after qualifying.

Updated grid with Alonso and Lawson pitlane starts

The full starting grid, subject to final official FIA confirmation around one hour before lights out, is as follows:

F1 Italian Grand Prix 2026 Starting Grid
Pos	Driver	Team
1	Pierre Gasly	Alpine
2	George Russell	Mercedes
3	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari
4	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari
5	Max Verstappen	Red Bull
6	*Oscar Piastri	McLaren
7	Franco Colapinto	Alpine
8	Lando Norris	McLaren
9	Arvid Lindblad	Racing Bulls
10	Gabriel Bortoleto	Audi
11	Ollie Bearman	Haas
12	Nico Hulkenberg	Audi
13	Carlos Sainz	Williams
14	Esteban Ocon	Haas
15	Yuki Tsunoda	Racing Bulls
16	Valtteri Bottas	Cadillac
17	Sergio Perez	Cadillac
18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin
19	**Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes
20	***Alex Albon	Williams
Pit Lane	Liam Lawson	Red Bull
Pit lane	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin

* Oscar Piastri starts P6 after a three-place penalty for impeding in qualifying.

** Kimi Antonelli starts P20 after taking a 30-place penalty for power unit component changes outside his allotted allowance.

*** Alex Albon starts P21 after taking a 20-place penalty for power unit component changes outside his allotted allowance.

Liam Lawson starts from the pit lane after taking a 35-place penalty for power unit component changes outside his allotted allowance and then rear wing changes following qualifying.

Fernando Alonso to starts from the pit lane for power unit component changes outside his allotted allowance following qualifying.

Written by

Graham Shaw - Consultant Editor

Digital sports leader with 30 years of senior level experience running global brands. Built sportinglife.com to be a behemoth in the UK as well as being in charge of the Planet Sport network of sites including planetf1.com, football365.com, teamtalk.com and planetrugby.com. Then grew goal.com to be the world's biggest soccer website in 18 languages and 37 territories. Was GM of Portals for Perform Group (now DAZN) with overall responsibility for sportingnews.com, spox.de and voetbalzone.nl.

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F1 Aston Martin Fernando Alonso Italian Grand Prix