Lance Stroll described his battle with teammate Fernando Alonso at the Japanese Grand Prix as their own 'Aston Martin championship' amid the team's poor start to the 2026 Formula 1 season. Aston Martin sits bottom of the standings after three races, plagued by Honda power unit vibrations and other issues. Stroll retired early, while Alonso finished for the first time this year.
Aston Martin drivers Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso turned their Japanese Grand Prix into an intra-team duel, as the squad languishes at the bottom of the 2026 F1 constructors' standings after three rounds. The team has faced chassis problems, power unit troubles, and management changes, with Honda engines suffering excessive vibrations that caused battery failures and limited practice time. Stroll told F1 TV after retiring on lap 30 due to a water pressure issue: “Not great, but I was having a fun race with Fernando in our own little championship, our own Aston Martin championship.” He overtook Alonso early and later passed Cadillac's Valtteri Bottas during a lap-23 safety car period via a strategic tyre change, though both remained at the rear of the field at Suzuka, Honda's home track. Alonso, meanwhile, crossed the line for the first completion of the season, having managed just 21 laps in Australia and retiring after 32 in China. The two-time champion noted progress, saying, “We got to Australia 100% sure that we could not finish the race... now in race three, we finish. It's not the pace that we want, but there is some progress.” He described the vibrations as more manageable and expressed commitment to working with Honda. Stroll found no clear improvements since Melbourne and called the vibrations 'not great,' while Alonso urged both factories to keep pushing together.
