Formula One travelled to Japan for the third round of the 2026 season, a nation steeped in racing culture and nowhere more so than Suzuka, a circuit that offers a very different and far more demanding test than the opening two races. Every corner is a masterpiece with names that trip off the tongue: Spoon; 130R; the Esses. It has the most enthusiastic fans and is also very much a driver’s favourite.
This is a home race and a homecoming for the team, as Aston Martin’s works power unit partner, Honda, makes its return to F1 to the circuit that was created by them in the early 1960s as a test track. Still owned by Honda, the figure-eight track, the only such one on the race calendar, provides one of the sternest tests of F1 machinery and remains one of the most technically challenging layouts on the calendar, combining high-speed direction changes with long, energy-intensive corners that place sustained stress on both car balance and power unit systems. Arguably, it offers a better opportunity to show off the capabilities of the new cars than was the case in Albert Park and Shanghai.
This would be an opportunity to learn a lot about the AMR26, but also a chance to get their Third Driver Jak Crawford into the car. Jak would be taking over Fernando's seat for FP1 on Friday morning, before Fernando gets back for FP2. Aston Martin brought an aerodynamic upgrade to Japan, featuring a new engine cover and front-of-floor furniture. Honda introduced some changes that hoped to address the engine-vibration issues that have been causing reliability problems and major discomfort for the drivers. Its engineers have been working to isolate the battery, a critical part of the hybrid system, from the vibrations but these have still been causing problems for the rest of the car - Alonso retired in China because holding the steering wheel was proving too painful. Speaking of whom, Alonso missed Thursday's media day because his partner, Melissa Jimenez, gave birth to their first child, a girl, Eloise, earlier in the week. Many congratulations to both of them.
After two consecutive races without a finish for either car, Suzuka represented not just another race weekend, but an important benchmark: a chance to assess whether the incremental reliability improvements made since China can translate into sustained running at one of the most demanding circuits on the calendar.
Free Practice
The two-time world champion sat out FP1 to make way for Aston Martin reserve driver Jak Crawford, who completed one of the team's mandatory young driver rookie sessions this year and gathered 11 laps worth of data on the hard tyres. Stroll spent the majority of the first Free Practice on hards before switching to softs with just over 5 minutes remaining and completed a total of 22 laps. Throughout FP1, the team worked on developing a stronger aerodynamic picture of the AMR26 and understanding the grip levels. especially as the majority of the track had been recently newly resurfaced. Notwithstanding that, the Aston Martin pair brought up the tail of the field and Crawford finished 22nd, over a second slower than Stroll in P21.
When FP2 started there was trouble for Norris, announcing on the radio that his battery is broken. Alonso was keen to head out on track - running on soft tyres he put himself P11 during his initial runs.12 minutes into the session and Albon stopped on track momentarily but then managed to restart his Williams. After quarter of an hour the Aston Martins were the last of the cars running – Stroll in P17 was almost 4 seconds off the leaders (Leclerc) pace with Alonso in P18, 4.7 seconds adrift of Leclerc. At the halfway point it wasn’t much better - Alonso was P17, Stroll P18. When Norris eventually got out on track he pushed the AMs further down, as did Bottas, who was also late getting underway in the session. With 15 minutes remaining and all the cars running race simulations for the final quarter it was a similar story - Alonso was in P18 and Stroll P20. When Bortoleto, another driver who was battling to get on track before the session ended, managed to get out, he also slotted in ahead of the two Aston Matins. When the chequered flag was waved to end the session, it finished with Alonso P19 and Stroll P21. Piastri, in a McLaren, was the fastest driver.
The following morning a beautiful day dawned in the Land of the Rising Sun, giving perfect conditions for FP3. When it got underway the only immediate action was Colapinto heading out for Alpine on medium compound tyres. But no one else was tempted to join the Argentine on the track. Stroll was the first of the AM duo to head on track after 8 minutes. 20 minutes into the session and everyone had been out and set a time bar Norris – who had a battery issue again and his car was on stands, being worked on. Stroll was running 20th, Alonso 21st. Antonelli was topping the timing sheets, a tenth clear of Leclerc & then it was Russell. At the halfway stage, the AMs were still the last of the cars running. With 20 minutes left, Norris was able to head out on track and the world champion was able to join the action and put in some practice laps. That pushed the AMs to the very bottom of the timing sheets and FP3 finished with Stroll in P21 having covered 19 laps and Alonso P22 having covered only 14 laps. Antonelli was P1, Russell P2 & Leclerc P3.
Qualifying
Qualifying began with Aston Martin opting to send both cars out early in Q1. Alonso and Stroll initially placed themselves P9 and P10 respectively, though this was only because the majority of the field had yet to set representative times. As the session progressed and the rest of the grid completed their runs, the Aston Martins steadily dropped down the order — falling to 19th and 20th with ten minutes remaining. That pattern continued and with five minutes to go, Stroll had dropped to 21st and Alonso to 22nd, both firmly in the elimination zone. The team sent both drivers back out for their final runs, but neither was able to extract any improvement from the AMR26. At the chequered flag, Alonso finished P21 and Stroll P22, bringing Aston Martin’s further participation in Qualifying to an immediate end in Q1. At the front, Leclerc, Russell and Antonelli were the fastest in Q1, while Q2 saw the notable elimination of Verstappen. In the final round, Antonelli secured pole position again ahead of Russell, with Piastri third.
Race
The following day, after a ten-minute delay, the formation lap got underway at Suzuka with both Aston Martins starting from the back row — Alonso 21st and Stroll 22nd, both on medium tyres, in line with the majority of the field. From lights out, Piastri had the best start and took the lead as Leclerc and Norris managed to power past the two Mercedes drivers. At the back, Alonso made immediate progress by passing Bottas to move up one place. Stroll remained last initially but he too was able to pass Bottas by lap three. By lap five, with the race settling into its early rhythm, Alonso was running P20 and Stroll P21 but well detached from the rest of the midfield already. Stroll began to close in on Alonso and, by lap eight he caught and passed the Spaniard. shortly afterwards, moving ahead as the two Aston Martins effectively ran in isolation at the back of the field, separated from the cars ahead by a significant gap. At the front, the two Mercedes were advancing back up the order so that by lap 15 it was Piastri, Russell & Antonelli in the top 3 positions. Then, after Piastri and Russell had been into the pits for fresh tyres, young Bearman had a dangerous crash when the car in front of him was slowing down to harvest energy, just as he was approaching at speed. He took evasive action which resulted in him crashing very heavily into the barriers requiring the Safety Car to be deployed shortly afterwards. This allowed several drivers to benefit from a reduced-time pit stop, especially Antonelli and Hamilton and mixed up the lead. Behind the safety car the order was Antonelli, Piastri, Russell, Hamilton, Leclerc & Norris. With Bearman out of the race, the Aston Martin pair moved up a position each, Stroll to P19 and Alonso to P20. The race resumed at the halfway stage and on lap 31 Alonso regained a position when Stroll came into the pits. What seemed a routine stop extended significantly, leaving him stationary in the pit lane for an extended period. During this time, Alonso remained on track on deteriorating tyres, unable to pit if needed, as the team dealt with Stroll’s car. Eventually, the team declared that a water pressure issue with Stroll’s car would mean he could not take any further part and would retire out of the race. Alonso meanwhile, had fallen further behind the rest of the field, over 14 seconds adrift of Perez ahead and starting to be under pressure from Bottas behind. With 6 laps left Albon came into the pits, which moved Alonso up to P18 and with no further realistic prospect to gain positions on track, his race became one of managing the car to the finish. In the closing stages, Alonso was lapped by the leaders, firstly by Antonelli, then Piastri, then Leclerc and Russell, who were still battling for the final position.
Antonelli ultimately secured victory — his second consecutive win, ahead of Piastri, with Leclerc completing the podium. His win made Antonelli the leader of the Drivers’ Championship – the first teenager ever to do so. Alonso brought the Aston Martin home in P18, having completed the full race distance – some consolation and tiny indication of progress.
Reaction and Comments
While, according to Mike Krack, reaching the chequered flag was the objective for the team (for both cars), the team remained well off the pace and unable to compete even with the midfield, reinforcing that significant performance and reliability challenges persist early in the 2026 season. Given that he hadn’t finished a race prior to this one, Alonso was quite upbeat. "Finishing the race here in Suzuka today shows clear progress for the team, and that's a strong positive we should take from the weekend. While we didn't have the pace, it was still enjoyable to gain valuable mileage and to race with Lance. We'll now analyse the data across both Silverstone and Sakura and continue pushing development, so we have a better understanding heading into Miami." Stroll also expressed himself positively. "I was enjoying the race today, even though we were not competitive and battling for the last few positions. Suzuka is always a fun track to drive so it was a shame we couldn't make it to the end. We still need to investigate, but it looks like a water pressure issue on the ICE. I was having a fun race up until that point, defending from Fernando, but it's clear we have a lot of things to work on and need to find a lot of speed. We know the issues we have so it's about tackling those as quickly as we can."
There will not be any races during April, as the races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia have been cancelled due to the ongoing situation in the Gulf. The next race will be in Miami, 1st-3rd May. More then.