Alonso qualifies 21st for third straight race as Aston Martin trails Cadillac by a second in Austria

Fernando Alonso qualified 21st at the Red Bull Ring on Saturday, with Aston Martin locking out the back row of the grid for the third consecutive race at the Austrian Grand Prix — finishing 0.997 seconds behind the quickest Cadillac of Sergio Perez in 19th.

Teammate Lance Stroll was 22nd and last, 1.418 seconds adrift of Perez, while both drivers were over 2.8 seconds off Kimi Antonelli’s Q1 benchmark. The gap to Cadillac was made more painful by the fact that the American outfit arrived in Austria with a fresh upgrade package, whereas Aston Martin is holding its own developments back until later in the summer.

Despite the grim numbers, Alonso struck a notably upbeat tone after the session, telling his team over the radio that “we’re getting closer” and pointing to meaningful internal progress made across the weekend.

“You see, I’m always positive,” Alonso said. “Inside the team we face some challenges this weekend: maybe with the altitude, a different track, very thirsty on energy. Since FP1 I think we made huge steps on drivability, on gearbox, downshift, upshift and energy consistency.”

A particular source of encouragement for the two-time world champion was the resolution of an energy deployment issue that had plagued Aston Martin through the early part of 2026. “The deployment has been a little bit inconsistent for the first part of the year — every lap you have a different speed on the straights and approaching the corners,” he explained. “It was the first quali of the year that I had the same deployment all three laps and that allowed me to push the limits in the corner.”

Alonso also noted that his qualifying deficit was smaller than in any of the three practice sessions, where he had been more than three seconds off the pace — a marginal but tangible sign of progress given the circuit’s short lap.

“We are at the back of the grid. Even Cadillac, our closest rival, made a big step here with upgrades,” Alonso acknowledged. “But the team is still working like if we were fighting for points or podiums. It’s very difficult to get motivated when you are last every weekend. But on the team no one is giving up and they are working to improve the car every session. So, from the driver’s point of view it gives you the energy to keep pushing.”

With no updates scheduled until later in the summer, Aston Martin’s grid position is unlikely to improve significantly in the near term — but Alonso appears determined to find reasons for optimism in the incremental gains being made behind the scenes.