Fernando Alonso is privately ‘voicing harsh criticism’ at Aston Martin after Australian GP disaster

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Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso is asking questions of the team behind the scenes, and Ralf Schumacher believes that executive chairman Lawrence Stroll is now ‘under pressure’ following a disastrous start to 2026.

Fernando Alonso once again made the best of a bad situation during the Australian Grand Prix.

The chequered flag was out during Q1 before Franco Colapinto finally pushed Alonso into the elimination zone, although the two-time world champion did benefit from three drivers not setting times.

The 44-year-old managed to move into the points-paying positions on the opening lap of Sunday’s race, showing his class with an incredible start before slowly slipping down the positions.

Alonso still believes it’s optimistic that he’ll finish the upcoming Chinese Grand Prix, with back-to-back race weekends not giving Aston Martin much time to deliver updates and digest the data they gathered in Melbourne.

Ralf Schumacher and journalist Peter Hardenacke have been discussing Aston Martin’s predicament and believe that Alonso is already voicing his displeasure with the situation, as he endures another underperformance from Honda.

READ MORE: Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso’s life outside F1 from net worth to Cars 2

Fernando Alonso ‘voicing harsh criticism’ of Aston Martin after the Australian Grand Prix

Schumacher was speaking about the Aston Martin-Honda situation on the Backstage Boxengasse Podcast and explained: “I mean, you already started speculating on Friday about what to do if it doesn’t work out, where you could go?

“I think it’s very, very early to be thinking about changing that during the first race weekend. But of course, Lawrence Stroll is under pressure, in my opinion. Clearly, that’s no surprise. I mean, they’ve done everything, invested everything, now they want to achieve results, but if Honda can’t do it, then there will definitely be changes, as is always the case in Formula 1.

“Yes, of course, there are exit clauses, there are things like that, but that’s unimaginable right now.”

Higher or lower: Aston Martin will complete 20 laps in the Chinese Grand Prix before their first retirement

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Hardenacke replied: “Where would you get an engine so quickly?

“Well, you could get one from Audi; they might still have potential. They don’t have a customer team yet. But otherwise, I think we’re still a long way off.

“I don’t think there was anything left, really. You also hear that Fernando Alonso, for example, is already voicing harsh criticism in the background, also at Honda, for whom it’s a kind of déjà vu, right?

“Every day, the same old story, right? We’ve already discussed the McLaren days here, where it was perhaps similar.

“I don’t know if it was worse; that’s hard to say, especially given the situation at Aston Martin right now.

“So ultimately, it could well be that there will be a break, and then perhaps the shorter route is to seek happiness with another engine manufacturer.”

READ MORE: All to know about Aston Martin F1 Team from team principal to lineage

Does it make sense for Aston Martin to abandon Honda’s power units?

When Lawrence Stroll signed a deal with Honda to become their exclusive power unit supplier for the 2026 season, he would have been envisioning the same success that Red Bull enjoyed with them over the past few years.

However, Red Bull hiring many of Honda’s best staff for their own power unit project has left them on the back foot, and whether they’ll ever be able to catch up remains to be seen.

The alternative, as Hardenacke suggests, might be Audi’s engine, although theoretically they could appeal to Red Bull to become one of their customer teams.

If Aston Martin give Honda time, and potentially resources, then they do have the track record to suggest that they can turn this around.

Whether they have the patience is another matter, and after Alpine decided to abandon their works status to become a customer team, it would no longer be a huge surprise if another manufacturer followed suit.