Alonso 'keeping himself entertained' during Aston difficulties.

      "Today, we had slightly more speed than they did."

      Fernando Alonso acknowledges that he and his teammate Lance Stroll are essentially experimenting and even amusing themselves during races as Aston Martin navigates a challenging 2026 season. "Yes, we’re trying to keep ourselves entertained," Alonso mentioned after the Miami GP. "Lance and I discuss this every morning—whether we’ll be racing together or if one of us will wait for the other, learning a bit about energy management since we didn’t get many laps in during winter testing."

      "We attempted to do something similar with Checo for a bit of fun, and today we had a bit more speed than they had." Indeed, Cadillac’s Sergio Perez stated, "Battling with Fernando is always enjoyable—he’s an extremely aggressive and very intelligent driver. When he pulls ahead, you know he’s plotting something, and the same goes when he closes in. His maneuvers are always well thought out."

      "He’s also a very clean driver. I hope he doesn’t improve too quickly so we can continue to enjoy it." Nonetheless, the reality for Aston Martin is stark. While their reliability issues—and the persistent vibration problem—are now under control, performance improvements are not anticipated for several months.

      "We haven’t faced any reliability issues, which is a positive note," Alonso said. "This is the second consecutive race we've completed without any problems. However, our race pace wasn't anything noteworthy. We were just trying to stay competitive and not lose ground given our capabilities." Importantly, significant upgrades are not expected until later in the season.

      "It doesn’t impact us much because we don’t have new parts planned for Canada," Alonso said when asked about the single practice session at the upcoming event in Montreal. "I don't think we'll introduce any new components until around race 12 or 14. We will make progress through our driving skills, but not in terms of performance. So, challenging races are ahead."

      Despite the circumstances, Alonso claims he has a grasp of the larger picture. "I’m at ease because I understand the situation," he stated. "The team has explained that gaining one or two tenths in each race won't alter our standing. We’re in P20 or P19, and the next car is a second ahead. So even with gains of two tenths in every race, our position remains unchanged."

      Even his humor reflects the reality of the situation. When asked what result might prompt him to more seriously consider his future, the 44-year-old Alonso joked, "If I finish fifth in any race, I’ll retire that very afternoon."