Fernando Alonso delivered Aston Martin’s first point of the 2026 F1 season at the Monaco GP, with the Spaniard eventually classified P10 after a chaotic race around the streets of Monte Carlo.
Starting from the back of the grid, Alonso kept himself in contention on a day shaped by Safety Cars, a red flag, retirements and post-race penalties. At the time Alonso spoke after the race, Sergio Pérez’s penalty had not yet been confirmed, meaning the final classification was still unclear.
Alonso: “We took a lot of risks”
Asked whether he simply never gives up, Alonso admitted Aston Martin had to take chances at the 2026 F1 Monaco GP after starting so far down the order. With overtaking notoriously difficult around the Principality, the opening lap and restarts became key chances to gain ground.
“We never could, but… Yeah, I mean, this was a tricky race. We took a lot of risks. In lap 1, in both occasions, in turn 1, turn 3 and turn 5. After that, we tried to consolidate whatever position we were in. We were aggressive on the strategy, we stopped in lap 3, and then around the Safety Car time. And yeah, we took opportunities here and there with different penalties. Let’s see what will be the final position again.”
The early stop was central to Aston Martin’s approach. By pitting Alonso on Lap 3, the team committed to an aggressive strategy rather than waiting for the race to come to them.
That decision carried risk, especially at Monaco where track position is so important. However, as retirements, Safety Cars and penalties began to shape the order, Alonso remained close enough to benefit.
Alonso explains the difficulty of Aston Martin’s car
While Alonso eventually came away with a point, he made clear the race was far from straightforward. The Spaniard explained that the AMR26 remained difficult to manage, even when he was not pushing at the absolute limit.
“It was difficult because this is very easy to crash. You are 19th and you crash and you look stupid on TV. Like in FP1, I crashed into the wall, I was braking for the chicane, and you are 3 seconds off the pace and you are still crashing. So it’s not that you run out of talent, it’s that the car is very difficult, very on the edge.“
That challenge made Alonso’s clean race even more important. Starting near the back meant he had to survive the busiest part of the field while also managing a car that had already proved difficult around Monaco.
The early stop also created another complication. Aston Martin was initially prepared for Alonso to take the tyre a long way into the race, adding tyre management to an already demanding afternoon.
“Obviously, we stopped in lap 3 and we were ready to go to the end. So we are driving a very difficult car with a 50 or 60-lap old tyre. That was an extra difficulty, but… Yeah, we had the red flags, we had different things that helped our race, which made it a little bit more comfortable, and yeah, we tried to do our best.”
The later interruptions therefore helped ease some of the pressure. But the foundation of the result had already been built through Aston Martin’s early gamble and Alonso’s ability to keep the car out of trouble.
Alonso not surprised by late crashes at 2026 F1 Monaco GP
Alonso was also asked about the condition of the track, which became another factor as the race developed. With marbles and debris appearing around the circuit, drivers had to be careful with where they placed the car.
“Yeah, it was very early on. I thought it was marbles at the end, so I saw, yeah, this black, you know, marbles or whatever on the outside, so we tried to keep always an inside line, but at one point it was everywhere, so yeah. It was not a surprise to see the crashes.”
At Monaco, that can quickly become decisive. Once grip disappears off-line, the margin for error becomes even smaller, particularly on older tyres and with barriers so close.
For Alonso, staying out of trouble proved crucial. While others were caught out by incidents, penalties or reliability issues, he kept himself in position to benefit and secured Aston Martin’s first point of the season.
