Alonso says "not much" to learn ahead of last-place start in Barcelona

Alonso's last race win till date was in Barcelona in 2013 | Credit: Formula One

After a difficult qualifying session, Fernando Alonso will start his home Grand Prix behind his teammate and at the back of the grid in 22nd. Outqualified by Lance Stroll for the first time in 42 races, the veteran driver assessed the difficult situation and his current equation with the AMR26. 

Describing the session, and the capabilities of the car itself, Alonso noted that it’s all a “little bit inconsistent at the moment”. Over the course of the 2026 season so far, Aston Martin are the team to have been hit the hardest by mechanical and technical issues with both drivers failing to take the chequered flag on a number of occasions so far this year. 

For Alonso, who hinted at his retirement earlier in the weekend by saying that “this is probably my last Barcelona race”, there was “not much” which could be taken from his short qualifying session. Even with the team scoring their first point of the season last time out in Monaco, Alonso further highlighted that “the first six rounds were not very good for us”. 

Alonso has been out-qualified by Stroll for the first time since the 2024 British Grand Prix | Credit: Formula One

Up and down the grid, other teams have brought a range of upgrades to their cars to boost performance and reliability however Aston Martin have been set on running their own plan. Looking towards the future, particularly after the summer break, the two-time former world champion optimistically stated: “when the upgraded car comes, hopefully [we] have a little bit more fun”.

While the upgrades will deal with the issues that the chassis is facing, a big part of the issue in the lack of performance in the AMR26 is the compatibility of the power-unit and chassis. Aston Martin, who are working with Honda, await the official results of Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities [ADUO] to see if they will be given the opportunity to improve their power-unit in the hopes of unlocking further performance. 

For the moment, however, Alonso made clear that “the next four or five [rounds] will be exactly the same [as the first six rounds]”. There can be no doubt that the Spanish driver will give it his all in front of his home crowd however his opportunities may be limited after starting from the back-row.