The 2026 F1 Japanese GP was a home race for Aston Martin and their drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll. Their Honda engine has been making headlines since the beginning of the season – but not good ones. But for their home race, the engine supplier promised more reliability. And they kept their promise: Fernando Alonso was able to finish the 2026 Japanese GP!
One goal fulfilled: finish a race!
The 2026 F1 Japanese GP weekend was one very small step to remember for Aston Martin and Fernando Alonso. After having missed media day on Thursday to due the birth of his child, the new father completed a full race distance for the first time of this season. Finishing a complete GP was one of the many things on Aston Martin’s to-do list.
Alonso is glad that at least one thing can be ticked off and hopes that the team now has more data to understand the car going foward.
“I mean, we have many boxes to tick and this was one of them, you know, finishing a race distance we didn’t manage in Australia, China or at the test. So, yeah, it’s the very first time and hopefully the team has enough data now to understand a little bit more the car and get in a better place for the next one.”
The Spaniard also commented on the vibrations of the car during the Japanese GP. “There were some vibrations. They will not disappear from up in the air,” he joked in the print media pen. “But, yeah, more manageable and enough to complete the race, so managable, I’d say,” assessed the two-time F1 World Champion.
The Aston Martin driver was asked to compare the vibrations on Sunday and on Saturday during qualifying. “Yeah, they were better [than in qualifying],” he rated.
However, he does not understand how the vibrations were not an issue on Friday during the practice sessions. “Not really, no,” he commented when asked about it.
Motivation for more improvement as Fernando Alonso finished the 2026 F1 Japanese GP
Completing the entire race distance was a huge improvement for Aston Martin. The team was not concerned about Alonso only finishing P18 — for them it was more important that they have finished the race.
“I mean, we get to Australia, you know, 100% sure that we could not finish the race. The following week in China, 95% convinced we could not finish the race. And now in Race 3, we finished the race. It’s not the pace that we want. But, yeah, there are some progress and some work in the team to keep improving. So yeah, hopefully it’s the first step for everyone to motivate both factories to keep improving.”
Fernando Alonso commented on the little battle he had with teammate Lance Stroll. He argued that their race was a little lonely pacewise and that running the cars together would help the team gain more data. Unfortunately for Stroll, he had to retire the car on lap thirty-six of the 2026 Japanese GP due to a suspected water pressure problem.
“Yeah, we talked before the race that maybe our race was a little bit lonely in terms of pace. And if both cars ran together, that was maybe some good information as well in terms of energy and different maps on the engine and the energy. So yeah, it was some fun there. And unfortunately, I think he had to retire the car. And, yeah, we missed the second part of the fun,“ concluded Alonso.
