Alonso finds 'zero positives' in Monaco as Aston Martin's weaknesses mount in 2026

Fernando Alonso delivered a bleak assessment of Aston Martin’s 2026 campaign after finishing 10th at the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday, describing the race in Monte Carlo as offering “zero positives” despite it yielding the team’s first championship point of the season.

Alonso crossed the line 11th before a post-race penalty for Cadillac’s Sergio Perez promoted him one place, but the result did little to mask the scale of Aston Martin’s problems. The team qualified 21st and 22nd in Monaco — more than three seconds off the pole time set by Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli — and only tight strategy calls and safety car timing allowed Alonso to climb from 21st on the grid.

The two-time world champion outlined a damning circuit-by-circuit breakdown of the car’s failings so far this year. “In Australia we found our engine was very down, in China we found our energy was very down, in Monaco we found our chassis is down and in Canada and in Miami we found that our gearbox was very bad,” he said. “I think every circuit exposed some of our weakness in the car.”

Aston Martin’s troubled season began before a wheel had turned in anger, with the team arriving late to winter testing and subsequently uncovering a series of issues with both the car and its Honda power unit. Vibration problems that severely affected both drivers over race weekends had appeared to be coming under control, but Monaco added a new entry to an already lengthy list of concerns.

Despite the grim picture, Alonso struck a cautiously optimistic note about the second half of the season. “The good thing is [we have] a very good understanding on what action is needed in each of the areas,” he said. “For the second part of the year, the package that we try to bring are tackling all those problems individually. I have full faith and trust on the team. Our impression and our feeling is that the car will change dramatically to what we are facing now. We just need to wait for another four or five races of painful results.”

The team has invested heavily in its infrastructure in recent years and made a series of high-profile staff appointments, most notably the arrival of Adrian Newey as managing technical partner. Whether those resources can be translated into on-track performance quickly enough to salvage a meaningful 2026 campaign remains the central question hanging over the Silverstone-based outfit.