Aston Martin were encouraged by Fernando Alonso’s pace during the wettest parts of the Brazilian Grand Prix, when his AMR26 looked the most competitive it has been all year.

But despite a strong qualifying performance which put him eighth on the grid, Alonso finished out of the points in 12th.

Selected Alonso radio messages from Brazilian GP

He picked up front wing damage when he made contact with Oliver Bearman on the first lap of the race. That led Alonso to point out to his team it wasn’t possible to create a strategy for every possible situation:

Lap: 1/71 ALO: 1’39.947
Vizard	Minus 45, minus 45, last car’s on the grid.
Vizard	Start the revs when the first red light comes up.
Alonso	Yeah, Bearman had a moment in front of me, let’s see.
Vizard	We’ll have a look at the front wing.
Vizard	Radio off.
Vizard	Race one when you can, race one.
Lap: 3/71 ALO: 1’28.012
Alonso	Yeah, that’s the bad thing about, you know, having hours of meetings. Never calculate every straight what we do.
Lap: 15/71 ALO: 1’28.307
Vizard	Hamilton behind has come in for dries, we’ll keep an eye out.

As the track dried out Alonso found himself increasingly compromised by the Aston Martin’s lack of straight-line speed:

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Lap: 16/71 ALO: 1’27.034
Vizard	Fernando it’s looking okay on the dry, we’re looking maybe this lap for dries.
Alonso	Copy, you tell me.
Vizard	Stay out stay out.
Lap: 17/71 ALO: 1’31.248
Vizard	Box, box, Fernando, box, box.
Alonso	Okay.
Lap: 34/71 ALO: 1’18.241
Alonso	I have no straight line speed, man.
Lap: 35/71 ALO: 1’16.629
Vizard	Good job mate, they’re out of the overtake now, good job. Can we have race one, race one.
Lap: 36/71 ALO: 1’16.159
Alonso	I have no energy, I mean, it’s ridiculous.
Lap: 37/71 ALO: 1’16.463
Alonso	Fucking hell! No energy!
Vizard	Yeah Fernando, we’re trying to sort it, trying to sort it.
Lap: 39/71 ALO: 1’17.080
Vizard	Our plan is to go longer, Fernando, we’ll go long. Mid-five if you want more rotation, mid five.
Lap: 42/71 ALO: 1’16.000
Vizard	Car behind Albon has got a five second penalty.

Alonso’s frustration became clear as he dropped out of contention for a points finish:

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Lap: 45/71 ALO: 1’15.818
Vizard	Hamilton behind, there’s no blues for him, but he’s on fresh tyres.
Lap: 46/71 ALO: 1’21.404
Alonso	Fucking hell man, this is ridiculous. We are not in the same race as anyone else.
Vizard	Yeah, I know mate. You’re doing very well, so all we can do our best. We’ve got blues with Norris, just Norris. Not yet though.
Vizard	Fernando, box, box.
Alonso	Box, box.
Lap: 47/71 ALO: 1’35.504
Vizard	Piastri will be alongside Fernando, it will be blues for him, can let him through.
Lap: 55/71 ALO: 1’15.044
Vizard	Fernando this rain we think it’s just going to stay very light, very light rain.
Lap: 56/71 ALO: 1’15.204
Vizard	Fernando, the rain is getting bigger on the radar now, about four or five laps. Gasly six seconds ahead. Nine lap older tyres.

When the rain returned later in the race, Alonso was one of the first to pit, thanks to his team’s quick reactions. However he began to lose time as the leaders caught and lapped him:

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Lap: 57/71 ALO: 1’16.113
Alonso	[Unclear] which position are we?
Vizard	We are position 13, position 13.
Alonso	Let’s see, it’s getting heavier.
Vizard	We’re watching cars ahead Fernando, only three tenths in a few places so nothing too much, we’re watching Norris car ahead of you.
Lap: 60/71 ALO: 1’24.588
Vizard	Fernando box, box, box, box for inters, box, box.
Alonso	Copy.
Lap: 61/71 ALO: 1’42.268
Vizard	So it is now low-grip conditions, so it’ll be at the lower power. The rain’s going to get worse now.
Vizard	Fernando mode seven when you can, mode seven. Track is clear, mode seven. Camara ahead will get blues for you.
Vizard	Nine laps to go, nine laps to go.
Lap: 62/71 ALO: 1’27.042
Alonso	[Unclear] deployment.
Vizard	Blues for Hadjar, Fernando, blues.
Alonso	I’m going away.
Lap: 63/71 ALO: 1’27.600
Alonso	Fuck me.
Alonso	They removed the blue flags from the dash.
Vizard	Copy, Fernando, there is no blues for you at the moment, we’ll try and sort it out. But you’re not on any blues.
Vizard	Seven laps to go. Seven laps. Rain is going to get a bit worse. Rain will get a little bit worse soon.

The Mercedes drivers lapped him but Alonso’s pace was much closer than it had been when the track was at its driest. Once he let the Mercedes pair lap him, Alonso lost around four tents of a second per lap to them:

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Lap: 64/71 ALO: 1’25.756
Alonso	Did we gain anything, are we in the points or nothing?
Vizard	So we just gained to Gasly, I’m afraid. But Hulkenberg has got a 10 second penalty ahead. He’s currently 18 ahead of you. So let’s see if there’s a Safety Car.
Vizard	Shape 11, Shape 11. We have got blues for Russell, and Antonelli is one behind him. It’s just those two. Blues, Russell, and Antonelli is 1.2 behind him.
Lap: 65/71 ALO: 1’26.956
Vizard	Okay, now it is blues for Antonelli, blues Antonelli.
Vizard	Five more laps to go, five. We are position 12.
Lap: 67/71 ALO: 1’25.141
Alonso	Insane we can keep up the pace
Vizard	As yesterday, in these conditions you’re quicker than the Mercedes, you’re doing well, it’s three laps ago, three laps.
Lap: 70/71 ALO: 1’29.578
Vizard	Everywhere is just a bit wetter now, everywhere’s just wetter.
Lap: 71/71 ALO:
Vizard	That’s the flag, mate. Well done. Good job, really good job. That’s all that’s possible, really.

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2026 Brazilian Grand Prix

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