Alonso hopes that Aston Martin's new package "tackle all their problems"

Aston Martin finally opened their 2026 account at the Monaco Grand Prix, with Fernando Alonso securing a hard‑earned P10 after Sergio Pérez’s post‑race penalty promoted him into the points.

It marked not only the team’s first score of the season but also their first with new engine partner Honda, salvaging a difficult weekend that had threatened to end without reward.

Alonso’s race looked compromised almost immediately when the team opted for an aggressive early stop, switching him to soft tyres on lap three. On paper, the move locked him into a two‑stop strategy — a near‑impossible proposition around Monaco without external intervention.

But the late sequence of Safety Cars and red flags transformed the complexion of the race, giving the Spaniard a cheap second stop and a renewed chance to fight.

Reflecting on the afternoon, Alonso explained the balance between risk and restraint: “I took a lot of risk on lap one and at the restart, and just tried to consolidate whatever position we were in.

"It was so difficult out there today, but we went aggressive with the strategy, stopping on lap three, and we were thinking to go until the end of the race with just one stop.”

The red flag proved decisive: “The red flag restart helped, and we made sure to take the opportunities that were available to us. So I think we managed the race quite well and it was a nice reward for everybody in the team to score our first point of the year.”

Alonso’s P11 on the road became P10 once Sergio Pérez’s penalty was applied, sealing a result that had seemed improbable after Friday’s struggles and the early strategic gamble.

The two-time world champion said that Aston Martin has discovered a long list of technical contraints and issues across the opening races of the season. The Silverstone-based outfit is expected to introduce a comprehensive package in one of the summer races which could turn its season around.

"The good thing is [we have] a very good understanding on what action is needed in each of the areas. For the second part of the year, the package that we try to bring are tackling all those problems individually," he said.

"I have full faith and trust on the team. Because our impression and our feeling is that the car will change dramatically to what we are facing now. We just need to wait for another four or five races of painful results.”

For Lance Stroll, the weekend’s recurring theme — inconsistent drivability — reappeared at the worst possible moment. The Canadian clipped the barriers late in the race, triggering the first Safety Car and ending what had been a combative, if compromised, afternoon.

Stroll was candid about the underlying cause: “We’ve been dealing with these drivability issues all season, and it was the same again this weekend. The acceleration and deceleration just isn’t consistent, and it changes from one corner to the next.”

Monaco’s unforgiving layout magnified the problem: “At most circuits you’ve got some run-off to work with, so you can manage it, but around here the walls are really close and any issue can put you into the barrier. That was also a big reason why I was getting picked up for track limits.”

The team will now investigate the failure ahead of Barcelona: “We’ll take a closer look after the race, and the team will keep pushing for improvements ahead of Barcelona next week.”

“We were there when it mattered”
Chief Trackside Officer Mike Krack acknowledged the difficulties of the weekend but emphasised the importance of capitalising on Monaco’s unpredictable nature.

“It proved to be a typical race of attrition in Monaco, which helped us progress to our best result of the year with Fernando in P10 – our first point scored with Honda.”

Krack underlined the challenges the AMR26 posed: “It was not an easy weekend, and the car has been difficult to drive, but we knew there could be opportunities, and we were there when it mattered at the end.”

On Stroll’s retirement, the team is already deep into analysis: “The retirement of Lance is something we are investigating. He has been suffering with problems in the deceleration phase of corners, which seems to have contributed to the crash at Turn 19. The track breaking up may have played a part too.”