For the fourth time in the 2026 F1 season, Fernando Alonso failed to finish as he pulled off track on lap 40 — for the main runners — of the Barcelona-Catalunya GP.
Starting from pitlane because of component changes post-qualifying, the Spaniard did have a brief bit of joy, passing Valtteri Bottas in the opening stint.
However, shortly after Sergio Pérez passed him, he was told to stop the car and pulled off on the grass on the inside before turn 9. It turned into a dream ticket for Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly as they boxed behind the VSC.
Fernando Alonso on DNF at the 2026 F1 Barcelona-Catalunya GP
Talking in the print media pen, the two-time F1 World Champion said there had been no sign of the problem before he got told to park the car.
“No, no warning.
“The engineer came on the radio, saying to stop the car and jump out of the car. So I imagine it was an ERS problem when you have to jump out of the car.
“And yeah, apparently it’s the battery.”
Unreliability continues to plague Aston Martin and Fernando Alonso in F1 2026
Across the two cars, they have failed to finish eight times across 14 possible attempts in a Grand Prix so far in 2026.
Ever since the nightmare of pre-season testing happened, the car and engine combined is slow and unreliable. In qualifying in Barcelona, they were over a second off new team Cadillac in Q1.
“Yeah, I think we changed some of the parts and they break in the race, unfortunately. So, that’s maybe another pitlane start in Austria.
“But it’s what it takes now. You know, we are struggling on performance, but also on reliability. Still not bulletproof.
“So yeah, we’re still dealing with a lot of issues.”
Fernando Alonso extremely thankful for home support at F1 Barcelona-Catalunya GP
Racing for the 24th time in F1 at the Circuit de Catalunya, the 44-year-old was extremely thankful for the extraordinary support he continues to receive despite a horrible 2026 for Aston Martin to date.
Once again, he hinted it could be his last start at the venue as it becomes a rotational event with Spa.
“It was the best part of the weekend.
“I mean, the fans were incredible the whole weekend. I think that was a very, very nice feeling.
“Very emotional weekend for me. Maybe the last in Barcelona.
“So yeah, out of the car I enjoyed every minute.
“But unfortunately we didn’t give to them what they deserve in terms of results. So hopefully the second part of the year we can improve the situation.”
Unity but improvements required
Asked about how important it is for him to show leadership and keep team spirits up, Alonso emphasised the need for them to stay together after the 2026 F1 Barcelona-Catalunya GP. The smallest of positives is the P10 in Monaco means they are at least off the mark this year.
Nonetheless, he wants to see improvements in the near future. Ever since that incredible start to 2023 when Fernando Alonso bagged six podiums in eight races, the Silverstone-based team has been struggling to develop cars. Dan Fallows was ultimately removed as Technical Director at the end of 2024.
A significant amount of changes are expected to come at Spa, turning the AMR26 into a B-Spec version. Whether that will move them into the midfield remains to be seen.
“Yeah, I mean we need to stay together for sure.
“That point in Monaco proves that we are not giving up. Even if we were at the back of the grid, we were able to finish the race and take whatever opportunity may come at the end with Safety Cars or whatever.
“And then we have hopes for the second part of the year with improvement that we can be a little bit more competitive.
“Yeah, we keep on working. But yeah, we need to see some results as well. Eventually we need to see some of the upgrades to make the car faster.
“We had also the last few years some of the upgrades didn’t make the car really fast as we wanted. So there are some things to prove with this year’s upgrades.
“We are all hoping for the best.”
