Fernando Alonso spoke candidly about Aston Martin’s difficult situation following qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, where he finished second-to-last, just ahead of his teammate Lance Stroll. The Asturian admitted openly that the team is at the back of the grid and that the current situation leaves little room for optimism.
Alonso warned that the challenges are not going to disappear anytime soon. “The first two races were complicated, this one was too, and the next ten will be just as difficult. I’m saying it now. We won’t see any immediate change,” the Spanish driver told Dazn, emphasizing that fans should not expect instant improvements in the car’s performance.
Team effort and the absence of miracles
Despite the team working hard to improve the car, Alonso reminded that in Formula 1, results do not come overnight. “We are working tirelessly to improve the situation, but in F1 miracles don’t exist. We are trying, the first part of the season will be very tough, and we hope the second part will be better,” he explained, foreseeing several difficult months before any tangible progress can be expected.
According to Fernando Alonso, real development will take several months of dedicated work. “The team is not just sitting around doing nothing, but in Formula 1 things don’t change overnight. It takes months of effort… I think that until the summer, or even after, we will see a similar situation every weekend,” he added, making it clear that the performance gap will likely persist at least until the mid-season break.
The month-long break and realistic expectations
Regarding the upcoming one-month break, Fernando Alonso noted that it will allow intensive work, but fans shouldn’t expect immediate results. “We will use the month to work hard and improve. What we can avoid is being last in Bahrain and Jeddah, but that doesn’t mean the extra month automatically gives better results. In Miami, we won’t see the full effect of this work; the impact of development usually becomes clear after three months,” the former Ferrari and McLaren driver clarified. He added that some partial upgrades could still be introduced in Miami.
On the driving side, Fernando explained that car vibrations remain an unpredictable and variable issue. “Yesterday I felt fairly good, the vibrations in the car were much lower, which pleasantly surprised me. Today they returned. It’s a very random issue we have to deal with day by day. Hopefully tomorrow we’ll be lucky and can finish the race,” he said, expressing hope of completing Sunday’s Grand Prix without major setbacks.
Fernando Alonso painted a realistic picture for Aston Martin: the first half of the season will require patience and hard work, without expecting sudden changes, with the ultimate goal of becoming more competitive in the second half of the year.
Fernando Alonso is therefore bracing for a “long winter” in the middle of the 2026 season, acknowledging that Aston Martin’s path to recovery is measured in months rather than weeks. Based on the content of his technical feedback at Suzuka, the team’s focus has shifted entirely toward a mid-season car rebirth while managing a difficult defensive campaign in the interim.
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