Fernando Alonso Offers Aston Martin Verdict After Defying Expectations In Australian Grand Prix Qualifying

When Aston Martin concluded their less-than-stellar testing weeks in Bahrain, which saw spins and reliability issues littered throughout appearances, Fernando Alonso stated that it was only a 'matter of time' before the team is fighting at the front of the grid.

But the news emerging at the start of the week before the 2026 Australian Grand Prix indicated that it was a long road back for the iconic constructor, as reports seemed to hint at an extremely limited running for both Aston Martin cars at Albert Park, consisting of only a few laps for both drivers.

With all that said, good news has transpired from Fernando Alonso's display in qualifying, and the veteran had some firm words to say regarding his team.

'Huge steps' so far for Aston Martin after shock P17 in Australian Grand Prix qualifying

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin, Australian GP 2026 — Despite performance not being ideal, the 2026 Aston Martin does look pretty good on the eye... | Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team

All three practice sessions saw Aston Martin firmly rooted to the back of the grid, not even outperforming Formula One debutant Cadillac in terms of one-lap pace.

Qualifying saw an improvement, though, as although Lance Stroll did not take to the track and ended up P22, Fernando Alonso finished 17th, above both the Cadillacs of Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas.

The Spaniard only missed out on Q2 by virtue of Williams' Franco Colapinto setting a better lap on the last flying lap of the session. He reflected on his team's progress positively in an interview with F1 TV.

" Yesterday we could all bet that we were not able to go through Q1 and we nearly made it... it’s definitely progress since yesterday—we didn’t touch the car much... so that tells me that the potential is huge.
Alonso on lack of car tweaks

Fernando qualifies in P17.

Lance’s car was not ready for qualifying. There was not enough time to rebuild the car after the issues this morning.#AusGP pic.twitter.com/s1yKAmipGh
— Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team (@AstonMartinF1) March 7, 2026

The 44-year-old also reflected on how the car's lack of reliability was hampering both he and teammate Stroll in terms of truly getting familiar with the car.

"I think reliability is hurting the potential of the car a lot—if you cannot run continuously and make your set-up work… We had a normal FP2 and FP3 and we made huge steps. We just need to keep on going and stay together through this phase."
Alonso on reliability

While Sunday might now be looking a bit more positive for Aston Martin, it is not all sunshine and rainbows. The battery shortage that the team is struggling with at the moment means two things: a) that Honda is working overtime to remedy that issue, and b) if things to go wrong with the energy system, it would cause severe consequences.