For only the third time in F1 2026, Fernando Alonso finished in the points, this time with a P8 finish in the Malaysia round.
Having started P12 on the grid, the Spanaird went backwards early on as he was on dry tyres when inters were far superior. The 45-year-old was down in P17 after the first racing lap, although he cleared Lewis Hamilton to be in P2 of those off the back on slicks.
As the vast majority of the field pitted under the Safety Car, the two-time World Champion fell to 18th place. From there, he went on an overtaking rampage, passing Pérez, Albon, Stroll, Ocon and Lindblad to climb to P9. He was helped by an incident between Bortoleto and Sainz, as well as a DNF for George Russell. Norris going off behind the Safety Car made it P8, and he finished just behind Lawson.
Fernando Alonso on points in 2026 F1 Malaysia race
With the surface of the Malaysian venue proving to be extremely rough, having a good chassis and a lot of downforce was key. Aston Martin’s Hungary package has made them a reference in the midfield fight in this area, although Honda’s lack of power at present means they are generally at the back or close to it at most circuits.
Fernando Alonso believes his best result of the season in the 2026 F1 Malaysia race was helped a lot. by the circuit. He is also hopeful for Singapore, a track where this is plenty of corners and lacking massively long straights like a Baku or Monza.
“I think it is the track.
“I think we’ve been more competitive this weekend. In general, both cars in Q2 and today fighting on the midfield territory. So yeah, overall it was a better weekend.
“Let’s see if we can keep up this pace, especially in Singapore where we have some hopes next weekend. And then there are some other weeks that we are very uncompetitive and we have to accept it.
“In the weekends that we can score points, the important thing is to execute well the race. Today, obviously, we started with a slick, so we put ourselves in some difficulties there.
“But at the end, it was OK. After the Safety Car, we had a new race coming.”
Formation lap shambles
Heavy rain before the race should have led to a solid amount of running on the inters in the race. However, a ridiculous situation occurred with the software on almost every car, with some stopping completely. Eventually, that was fixed and the race got going.
Asked about Honda not having problems, the driver of car #14 joked about red flags for the AMR26 over the remainder of the season if they break down again.
“I think I had 50% DNF this year [6 out of 16 Grands Prix he did not finish to date]. They never stopped the race for us.
“If we keep this percentage, four races we will DNF and we will see four red flags for sure.”
On the chaos that ensued, the 45-year-old explained his feelings behind the wheel as he witnessed it.
“The same thing that goes through their mind when they see the Aston Martin stop, I guess.
“Sad on one side because they have a problem. Good because you have one car less on the race.”
Alonso added an explanation was required, which came in the minutes and hours after his trip to the media pen.
“I think it has to be explained.
“But from our side, we try to do our job, try to keep the car running. And then, yeah, probably the rain was very much appreciated in terms of opportunities for us.
“And we even started with the slicks because we thought that the rain was not anymore there. So yeah, it took quite a long, to restart the race.
“But I’m sure there is an explanation. We just need to hear it.”
Should the drivers and teams affected have started at the back? Alonso thinks so
When asked if it was unfair that the grid was reset for the 2026 F1 Malaysia race following the red flag for what was happening on the formation lap as multiple cars stopped on the long straight between the penultimate and final corner, Fernando Alonso agreed with it.
“100%.
“I mean, this is motor racing, you know. I mean, if it’s a safety concern, I get it. If there are five cars in the middle of the road or whatever, you know, we have to stop the race and we need to see what’s going on. But I think they were out of the race.
“They were out of it, even near the wall, you know. Just they had to push it two metres, the marshals, and retire the car like we do in every, as I said, 50% of the races. And it was the first time I see that.
“As I said, right now I don’t have all the info. So maybe there is a clear explanation and it’s OK, I’m not too concerned.”
