Aston Martin’s difficult 2026 F1 Italian GP weekend ended exactly how the team would not have wanted it: both Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso failed to finish the race in Monza and left the temple of speed with zero points to their name.
Fernando Alonso’s DNF came after the Spaniard ran over the kerb at the exit of Turn 7 [Lesmo 2], leaving him suspecting damage underneath the AMR26 and forcing his retirement after 23 laps. Meanwhile, Stroll retired with a hydraulic issue.
Alonso faces early retirement after difficult qualifying at 2026 Italian GP
After starting from the pit lane due to component changes after qualifying, Alonso’s race initially offered some encouragement. After the early red flag, Aston Martin changed his tyres and he found himself able to fight with the Cadillac’s — the brief battle was one of the few positives available to the two-time world champion.
When asked what had happened when his race ultimately unravelled, Alonso explained that the problem began when he ran over the kerb:
“Yeah, I think I went off in Turn 7 exit, in second Lesmo, over the kerb and since that moment, yeah, the car was not feeling the same anymore, so probably I got some damage underneath, and it was not worth keeping going, you know, we were slow and with damage on the car, no point.”
The retirement was another element in an already complicated weekend for the driver at the 2026 Italian GP. Aston Martin had spent Saturday night working on his car after an electrical problem in qualifying, with the team changing power unit components and breaking Parc Fermé rules in the process.
“Yeah, it was the battery at the end, battery problem, so we changed all the electrical components of the car, and today it was fine.”
In terms of any modifications to the wider chassis or aerodynamic changes the team made while the car was in the pit lane, he clarified that the changes were minor rather than anything drastic or experimental.
“Yeah, I think we changed something on the suspension, but minor tweaks, nothing really dramatic or experimental, you know, it was a normal set-up.”
A fun battle with the Cadillacs in Monza
Despite retiring only after 23 laps, the Spaniard still managed to find some entertainment before his own retirement, fighting with both Cadillacs and his teammate during the race.
“Yeah, it was good, I think we had some fun with the Cadillacs, that was kind of unexpected.”
Just as he responded, he learned his teammate stopped on track:
“Okay, Lance has stopped now. Virtual safety car,” before continuing, “So yeah, I think, you know, at least we could fight a bit with the Cadillacs, and that was maybe unexpected because we thought that we were on our own.”
Despite facing battery issues, the Spanish driver had somewhat of a vague idea of what was going wrong for the team, especially after changing the battery components multiple times. But, despite all their effort, he believes that the issuehasn’t been eradicated at the root yet.
“It’s the fifth or six component we changed now, so I think we understand that there is some kind of issue there that we need to fix, not totally solved, but yeah, nothing unexpected.”
Asked whether he was expecting a better weekend at the next round, he shared that there will be weekends where the overall performance will be more positive, and the others not so much. He alluded to F1’s return to Madrid as a weekend of “opportunities” as it features plenty of cornering and far less long straights.
“Looking forward, I think, from the remaining races, we know that there are weekends that we will struggle, weekends that will be better, you know, maybe next one is one of the opportunities, so looking forward.”
Stroll on AMR26’s power issues at the 2026 Italian GP
On the other side, Alonso’s teammate Lance Stroll had little to say as he unpacked his DNF. When questioned about whether he was aware of any other issues apart from the hydraulic ones, he responded with a “No”.
Despite qualifying P22, the Canadian managed to start from P17 as several drivers served grid penalties. Even with the benefit of starting higher than where he qualified, he lost several positions at the start as he struggled off the line and revealed that the car had been dealing with energy issues in the opening phase.
“We had some energy issues at the beginning.”
The restart proved more encouraging, with Stroll gaining positions off the second start, fighting with Albon, Alonso and the Cadillacs.
“We got actually a better start at the second start, we gained some positions.”
However, he acknowledged the fact that Monza would be a tough weekend for the team in terms of power, “Yeah. Honda and stuff, just lacking power.”
Monza offered little in the way of new revelations about Aston Martin’s weaknesses. Asked what the team had learned from the weekend, he pointed to the same issue they’ve known for some time.
“We need more power, that’s a good thing to learn. We’ve known that, we’ve known that, it’s just more proof of that.”
Advantages for Madrid weekend
The Canadian was more optimistic about the next race in Madrid, where the circuit’s greater number of corners should play more to the AMR26’s strengths and he expects that pattern to continue across the remaining races, with Aston Martin likely to fare better at circuits that place less emphasis on straight-line speed.
“On paper it looks better for us, more corners.
“It’s pretty straightforward, the places with more corners, less straights, better for us. Places with long straights and less corners, not so good for us.”
