Fernando Alonso has revealed when Aston Martin will return to a “normal” race weekend following another double retirement at the Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix.
The Chinese GP once again proved to be a disaster for Alonso, as Honda’s lack of reliability and understanding of its inherent issues led to further woe for the Spaniard.
Extreme vibrations caused by the Honda power unit continued unabated, a disappointing sprint race leading to lining up 19th for Sunday’s race.
Retiring from the race at the midpoint, extraordinary footage emerged of Alonso taking his hands off the steering wheel due to the severity of the vibrations.
Alonso was honest after the race over the timeline to fix issues plaguing Aston Martin’s season, citing new problems continuing to emerge.
“Difficult to guess. I don’t know really”, he said to media, including Motorsport Week, on when the team could enjoy a normal race weekend.
“We still have too many issues and too many unknown issues that are coming day after day from nowhere, so it seems that we are not on top of the problems yet and that’s why it’s difficult to guess.
“But we are pushing, we have very high professionals and talented people in the team.
Fernando Alonso details measure of success for progress
But Alonso did reveal when he hopes progress will be seen by the team, the measure of success being simply completing sessions without issue.
“I hope by a couple of Grands Prix we can have a normal weekend, well, at least in terms of doing laps and completing the sessions.”
Finishing a race, however, remains a pipe dream for now, with no timeline given on when this may be achieved.
“Then to be competitive, I think that will take more time, to be honest, because once we fix the reliability then we will be behind in terms of power and things,” he said.
“There are two steps, let’s say, and hopefully the first step will come soon.”
Alonso’s trademark honesty demonstrates the nadir Aston Martin finds itself in.
That progress is being measured on whether the AMR26 can complete a session is a sign of the mountain Aston Martin must climb in 2026 to return to competitiveness.
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