Fernando Alonso notoriously dislikes Method 1’s new-for-2026 equipment, and he made this abundantly clear following Friday observe on the Monaco Grand Prix.
Alonso has been among the many largest critics of F1’s new guidelines ever since he first examined Aston Martin’s newest automobile, lamenting that high-speed corners not are a problem as drivers carry because of vitality administration necessities.
Monaco occurs to be the one place the place there isn’t any want to save lots of vitality, which doesn’t imply drivers are free from administration constraints, as a pissed off Alonso identified.
“That is in all probability the worst era of vehicles I ever drove in Monaco,” he lamented.
“The best way you cost the battery, with the braking and lifting off and issues like that, clearly creates a whole lot of inconsistency into the engine braking of the automobile. Typically you have got much less, generally you have got push and generally not.
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“If the battery is totally full, then you do not recharge as a result of the battery is full. So you do not have engine braking. It is like pushing.
“It is simply the foundations. Hybrid vehicles shouldn’t be racing. It is so simple as that.”
Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing
Photograph by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Photographs by way of Getty Photographs
Alonso’s distaste for 2026 vehicles is compounded by the AMR26’s particular woes. The Spaniard has been complaining about “random downshifts” and was caught out once more in Free Observe 1, shedding management on the strategy to the chicane and tapping the wall.
“Now, we harvest so much throughout braking,” he defined. “The rear axle is simply charging the battery massively on the braking. After which you have got these downshifts that you must work together with the engine blip to interact the following gear. There are a whole lot of issues occurring this yr and plainly we aren’t on the degree but.”
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On high of the driveability points that make the automobile “manner too inconsistent”, Alonso stated Aston Martin was affected by “persistent understeer” regardless of some set-up tweaks and would wish additional experiments to probably remedy the state of affairs.
Therefore Aston’s worrying deficit on the timesheet on the finish of Friday observe – Cadillac was 0.178s quicker, and the following closest workforce, Racing Bulls, loved a 0.546s margin on the shortest monitor of the season.
Photographs from Monaco GP – Friday
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