Fernando Alonso fears he’ll ‘end up crashing’ in Monaco Grand Prix if one Aston Martin issue returns

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Fernando Alonso has raised concerns over an issue that Aston Martin have faced at recent race weekends, asserting that he will ‘end up crashing’ if it crops up again during the Monaco Grand Prix.

Alongside his Aston Martin teammate, Lance Stroll, Fernando Alonso has endured a very frustrating start to the 2026 F1 season due to the sub-par performance of the team’s 2026 challenger, the AMR26.

Despite Aston Martin seemingly discovering a new fix at every race weekend, the issues are coming thick and fast, with his latest foray at the Canadian Grand Prix ending with Alonso retiring early due to a problem with his seating position.

Before that, a downshift issue was identified at the Miami Grand Prix, which stands as the only race in the current campaign at which both Alonso and Stroll have managed to see the chequered flag.

While the team managed to get away with it in South Beach, the same can’t be said for the narrow streets of Monaco.

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Fernando Alonso hopes Aston Martin have stamped out ‘strange’ downshift issue

In his comments to the media on Thursday afternoon ahead of this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix, Alonso raised concerns over the issue cropping up again.

Due to the tight and twisting nature of the Circuit de Monaco, any sort of issue that upsets the balance of the car could have disastrous consequences.

Speaking via Mundo Deportivo, the two-time world champion said, “We’ve had gearbox problems since Miami, and Monaco isn’t the ideal place to experience an unexpected downshift that causes the rear axle to lock up or a strange surge.

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“You’ll end up in the wall, and the driver will look like the culprit. We’re just passengers on what happens when you downshift, and the engine surges like you’re at full throttle. We need to make sure we’ve made progress on it since Canada, and Monaco will tell us the truth.”

Due to the lack of reliance on engine power at Monaco, the upcoming race weekend offers Aston Martin an opportunity to flex the aerodynamic prowess of Adrian Newey’s latest creation.

In response to a question regarding the Monaco Grand Prix being his best opportunity of scoring points yet, he replied, “It could be, yes. I prefer racing here than in Monza. But, as I said, everything has to fall into place over the weekend.

• READ MORE: Lance Stroll told Aston Martin he finished Canadian GP ‘for the mechanics and Lawrence’

“If we have the downshifting problem we had in Miami, we probably won’t even be able to compete, because we’d end up crashing under braking due to a completely different downshift than expected.

“If we suffer reliability issues like those at the beginning of the season, when we were only completing eight or twelve laps, it doesn’t really change much that we’re in Monaco.”