Alonso claims his “motivation is unchanged” as Aston Martin navigates difficult start to 2026

Ahead of the Barcelona‑Catalunya Grand Prix, Aston Martin's two-time world champion Fernando Alonso offered a honest assessment of the Silverstone-based outfti's challenging start to the 2026 Formula One season.

Speaking on Thursday, the two‑time world champion reflected on the team’s struggles with the new technical regulations, the immaturity of the power‑unit project, and his own mindset as the team works to recover.

Despite Aston Martin’s early‑season difficulties — including drivability issues, power‑unit deficits and a lack of competitiveness relative to the front‑running teams — Alonso insisted that his motivation has not wavered.

“Well, motivation, no big change, as I understand perfectly how this sport works and how everything is in Formula 1, and you need to have the right package to perform and you need to work around your team to get that package in the best place possible, as soon as possible as well, when you are not leading the pack.”

Alonso pointed to the cyclical nature of performance in Formula One, emphasising that dramatic swings in competitiveness are not unusual.

“We see so many examples of drivers that they are out of the top 10, following year they are winning races, vice versa, they are winning races, then out Q1. So motivation is still there because I believe in myself and I have full trust in what I'm able to do.”

The 42‑year‑old stressed that his confidence in his own ability remains intact, regardless of Aston Martin’s current position.

“I feel that when I have the same machinery as any other driver in the world, I never felt uncompetitive in Formula 1 or outside this paddock. I drive many different cars and I felt the same way all my life, and I still feel the same way now.”

Alonso was equally candid about the team’s technical situation. Aston Martin Honda entered the 2026 season with high expectations, but the early races revealed that the power‑unit project was not yet fully mature.

“And then the trust in the team? Obviously it's not ideal when you start a set of regulations on the back foot, because everything takes time. Especially in our case, I think the power unit, we found very quickly that we were not up to speed, and yes, it was a little bit immature, the project itself.”

He explained that the team understood early on that the opening phase of the season would be difficult.

“We realised quickly that we would need time to catch up and we would need time to fix some of the issues. But in Formula 1 you race every two weeks and you need to deliver performance every two weeks.”

The compressed race calendar, he said, made the situation even more challengin: “We understood quite quickly that we were not able to do that and it will be a tough start of the season.”

Despite the setbacks, Alonso remains optimistic about the team’s long‑term trajectory: “But we are navigating through that tough start, and we have higher hopes for the second part of the year. But until then, every weekend is a little bit more or less the same story.”