When Aston Martin should retire from the Formula One Australian Grand Prix is revealed by Fernando Alonso

According to Fernando Alonso Aston Martin should withdraw from the Australian Grand Prix as soon as a minor problem arises in order to protect the upcoming rounds of the 2026 Formula 1 season.

Due to ongoing issues with the AMR26 the Silverstone team has been the buzz of the paddock at this weekend's Melbourne season opener.

Perhaps the biggest concern is its Honda power unit since extreme vibrations have left the team without replacements. The situation is so bad that Aston Martin believes it will only be able to complete 25 of the 58 laps that are scheduled for Sunday's race.

Due to mechanical issues that prevented the two-time Formula One champion's teammate from leaving his garage during both FP3 and qualification, Aston Martin will start the race in 17th place (Alonso) and last (Lance Stroll).

"We will be flexible every lap, we will monitor the situation," Alonso declared. There is no mystery about the fact that we are short on parts, as Adrian [Newey] stated yesterday.

Next week is China. Thus, we're hoping to complete as many laps as we can and, ideally, the entire race.

However, we cannot risk running until we cause significant harm before making a compromise the following week if there is even the slightest indication that something might be amiss. Therefore, we will need to be extremely adaptable.

There were concerns that Aston Martin, which is probably last in the hierarchy, might be a few seconds behind when it eventually made it to the racetrack.

Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz followed Stroll in failing to set a lap, although Alonso gave some hope by qualifying ahead of Cadillac drivers Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas and being less than a second away from a Q2 participation at Albert Park.

Alonso went on, "I don't think it does change anything, but it might change a little bit in the garage." For the past six weeks, the mechanics have been working nonstop and replacing power units.

Therefore, even on the opposite side of the garage, where Lance was extremely unlucky in FP3 and qualifying with zero laps, it's a little bit better to be in the mix with a few cars on the circuit than to be dead last, like we were yesterday.

That might be sufficient to give everyone in the garage a tiny boost of motivation. And maintaining team spirit during trying times is undoubtedly part of our current responsibilities as drivers.