F1 Chinese Grand Prix: Fernando Alonso takes drastic action to avoid injury from Aston Martin car

Aston Martin

Fernando Alonso takes drastic action to avoid injury from Aston Martin F1 car

A double DNF for Aston Martin at the Chinese Grand Prix

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Monday 16 March 2026 23:30

Fernando Alonso was forced into drastic action at the Chinese Grand Prix as Aston Martin's F1 car posed as a safety risk.

Both Alonso and Lance Stroll failed to finish Sunday's race, with the Canadian retiring after nine laps due to problems with the battery. The Spaniard only managed 32 laps before discomfort caused by the car's vibrations forced Alonso to return his car to the Aston Martin garage.

Not only was Aston Martin's pride wounded, with Alonso at one stage waving to a passing Cadillac, but the AMR26 was clearly causing the champion physical pain.

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At one point, onboard footage from Alonso's car showed him lifting his hands off the steering wheel as he made his way down the start/finish straight, to relieve himself of the discomfort caused by the vibrations.

Alonso: Physically I could not continue

Speaking to F1 after the Chinese GP, Alonso said: "It was difficult, today we found more vibrations than any other session of the weekend. Physically I could not continue much longer, I started losing the feeling on my hands and my feet. So it was not a nice feeling.

When asked how he could move forward after the weekend, Alonso added: "Training. Get fit. Get ready. Do my homework and be ready for Japan."

Alonso's team-mate Stroll has previously compared the vibrations from the Honda power unit to being 'electrocuted', with the team back at Sakura prioritising a fix for this issue.

Honda are in a race against time over the next two weeks to lessen the issue, so Aston Martin can finally complete a full race distance in front of their home crowd at Suzuka.

F1 Aston Martin Fernando Alonso Chinese Grand Prix Honda