Fernando Alonso made it through to Q3 in Brazil for the first time this year, but ultimately fell well short of causing a sensation: here’s why the attempt fell flat
In the chaotic, rain-soaked qualifying session for the 2026 São Paulo Grand Prix, a major upset was in the air: Fernando Alonso drew on all his experience in the difficult conditions and even led the timesheets at times early on in qualifying. In the end, however, he missed out on a major success.
The Aston Martin driver finished only ninth in the final qualifying session and was clearly disappointed. “Yes, absolutely,” Alonso admitted in an interview with Sky. “I was first up and thought: perhaps this will give us the chance to get into the top four or top five – if the rain gets heavier.”
“But in the end, the rain wasn’t as heavy as we’d hoped. The weather remained stable enough for everyone to complete two timed laps.” On top of that, the two-time world champion’s final attempt didn’t go quite as perfectly as he’d hoped.
“I didn’t manage the whole thing perfectly,” Alonso admits. “On the first lap, the tyres were ice-cold; I had absolutely no grip. And on the second attempt, I’d run out of energy after using too much on the first lap, because I thought qualifying consisted of just a single lap.”
“In the end, I ended up nowhere.” The Aston Martin driver ultimately fell 2.8 seconds short of Lando Norris’s fastest time in the McLaren. On the starting grid, Alonso will at least move up to eighth place due to Charles Leclerc’s engine penalty.
Aston Martin got the tyre choice right in Q2
The conditions were “really tricky”, reports the Spaniard. “But we’re here at Interlagos, where we have plenty of experience with such wet conditions.” The biggest challenge, however, was that the teams still lack experience with the new cars in wet conditions this year.
“There have been changes to the intermediates and wet tyres compared to last year, and we’re still in the experimental phase,” Alonso points out. “We simply didn’t have enough laps under such conditions over the course of the season.”
Nevertheless, Aston Martin demonstrated good timing in the rain-soaked Brazilian qualifying session when the team was the first to switch from full wets to intermediates in Q2. “It wasn’t easy. But I felt that we’d already got the most out of the wet tyres,” reports Alonso.
“We were in ninth place; if we’d just carried on like that, we probably wouldn’t have made it into Q3. So it was better to take a bit of a risk. If it worked, we’d be in Q3 – if not, we’d have been eliminated on the wet tyres anyway. So it was worth a try.”
Fernando Alonso is hoping for rain on Sunday
The risk paid off: Alonso made it through to the final stage of qualifying in seventh place. Overall, Saturday showed that Aston Martin is slightly more competitive in wet conditions than on a dry track. Consequently, the Spaniard is also hoping for rain for Sunday’s race.
“I think we’ll have a better chance then,” says Alonso. “In wet conditions, a small, silly mistake can lead to a retirement, but you also have the chance to score points. And at this stage of the season, we’d rather take that risk.”
“In dry conditions, we’re actually struggling a bit more this weekend than we’d expected,” admits the Aston Martin driver, who finished only 18th in the third free practice session on a dry track. “So yes, for [Sonntag] I’d prefer rain.”