Fernando Alonso called attention to his struggles in the Aston Martin as he lost five places in a single lap during the Chinese Grand Prix.
The two-times world champion ran as high as 10th at the end of lap one but lost places to three drivers on the second lap.
Matters got worse when he opted not to pit during the early Safety Car period and briefly rose to 11th. At the restart, five drivers overtook him, all bar one of which had pitted for fresh tyres.
At the restart, Alonso’s race engineer told him to “use energy” as he accelerated towards the first corner. However he was unable to prevent Arvid Lindblad, who was still on his original set of hard tyres, overtaking him.
Max Verstappen appeared on his outside as they rounded turn three and relegated the Aston Martin another position. The pair left him behind as he braked for turn six and Carlos Sainz Jnr appeared on his outside in the Williams, passing well before the apex.
The second Red Bull of Isack Hadjar passed Alonso on the inside as they reached turn 11. Finally, Sergio Perez claimed the inside line for turn 14, completing Alonso’s one-lap slump to 16th place.
“Well, I hope this lap was broadcasted,” Alonso remarked with a chuckle. The only driver left behind him, Perez’s team mate Valtteri Bottas, came by on the next lap.
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Alonso retired from the race as he reported the vibrations from his power unit were so severe his hands and feet were hurting. He warned his team during the Safety Car period: “Vibrations are higher today than yesterday.”
Around the halfway point in the race Alonso told his race engineer: “I think we have to pit soon, vibrations are way too high.” The team brought him in for a change of tyres, after which he was lapped by leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli. Alonso called to pit again and did not return to the track.
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2026 Chinese Grand Prix
- “I hope this lap was broadcasted”: Alonso lost five places in one lap at the restart
- 2026 Chinese Grand Prix interactive data: lap charts, times and tyres
- Antonelli admits he “relaxed too much” before mistake near end of race
- Russell was ‘waiting for Hamilton and Leclerc to collide’ in Chinese GP
- Stella explains “coincidental” faults behind McLaren’s “exceptional” double withdrawal
Published by
Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 – when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring journalist, Keith began running the site full-time in 2010, achieving a long-held ambition to dedicate his full attention to his passion for motor racing. View all posts by Keith Collantine