Fernando Alonso reveals Aston Martin theory after qualifying milestone

SEPANG – Aston Martin earned its first double Q2 of the season at Sepang, which Fernando Alonso sees as proof that its deficit elsewhere is layout-dependent.

While both Alonso and Lance Stroll have made it through the first part of qualifying individually at different times, the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia is the first time this year that they have done so together.

Fernando Alonso responds to ‘step forward’ with same Aston Martin chassis

Aston Martin has largely struggled towards the rear of the field in 2026 and, while work has been continuous to try and bring the AMR26 closer to contention, Alonso revealed that it is fundamentally the same chassis with which it has been racing since its single mass upgrade of the season, at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Alonso, who will line up 12th in Malaysia on Sunday, sees this as a sign that Aston Martin’s relative struggles elsewhere are dependent on the track layouts and, when the characteristics suit his team, they will sit higher up the field.

“Obviously, you know, no doubt, our best weekend in terms of car performance,” he told PlanetF1.com and others after the session.

“Both cars in Q2 for the first time, and I think it was 1.5 seconds to the top of Q2, so definitely a step forward in terms of competitiveness.

“The car is exactly the same as the last four rounds, since Budapest, so it’s just telling us that it depends on the circuit layout and the amount of straights we have, we can be more or less competitive.

“So, nothing new in that regard. We just need to take opportunities when these weekends come, and hopefully tomorrow we can have a clean race.”

The two-time World Champion has three points to his name so far in 2026, and while his instincts will naturally want to look further forward once the lights go out on Sunday, he knows that taking home a points finish may not be achievable as it stands.

While he will look to enjoy fighting higher up the field, he is keeping the year in perspective regarding where he may be able to finish on Sunday.

“I mean, looking at the whole season, why should we be in the points tomorrow?”, he asked.

“We are less competitive, and I think so far it has been a good weekend, good Saturday for us, but we need to have our feet on the ground.

How qualifying unfolded at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia

Bahrain GP in Malaysia: Verstappen dominates as Hamilton makes front row

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“There are some fast cars starting behind us with some penalties as well, and tomorrow they will come strong in the first laps of the race. We may lose a lot of positions on the straights with the main competitors, and then we cannot overtake them because we don’t have the speed on the straight. We damage the tyres, so it’s a miracle that we are fighting with cars, you know, that are much faster than us.

Stroll will line up 14th on the grid at Sepang, and received two separate warnings from the stewards for not following the race director’s instructions during the qualifying session on Saturday.

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

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