Jolyon Palmer says ‘all-time flops’ Aston Martin have made Fernando Alonso a glorified ‘test driver’

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Jolyon Palmer has tempered any optimism around Aston Martin after they finished a race for the first time in 2026. Fernando Alonso made it to the chequered flag in Japan after five DNFs for the team.

For Palmer, the step forward shouldn’t distract from the sobering reality of the team’s performance. After three races, they are below scoreless newcomers Cadillac in the championship.

Speaking in 2022, Lawrence Stroll said Aston Martin had formed a ‘five-year plan’ to reach the ‘top’ in F1. With just a year of that window remaining, they are bottom of the pecking order.

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Jolyon Palmer slams ‘terrible’ Aston Martin

Speaking on the F1 Nation podcast, Palmer pointed to the gap between Alonso, who qualified 21st in Japan, and Carlos Sainz, the last driver to reach Q2 in 16th.

Aston Martin are 1.719s away from even escaping the first segment of qualifying, let alone challenging for Q3. Palmer says the team have deliberately turned down their engine, so there is performance in reserve, but they can’t access it without risking a retirement.

Estimated timelines vary, but the last time Honda were in this much trouble (at the start of their McLaren reunion in 2015), it took them around four years to become competitive.

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“They were so slow in Japan,” said Palmer. “They’re obviously troubleshooting issues, aren’t they? They’ve had to make concessions just to make the car able to finish the race.

“Things are bad. It’s one of the all-time flops that we’re watching right now. Aston Martin can only finish a race if they’re running really down on power to try and get some level of drivability and reliability out of it, and they can just get one car to the end after three Grands Prix. It’s terrible.

“We are talking 1.7 seconds to get out of Q1. You could have put two entire grids in that gap last year. That’s just for Fernando Alonso to make Q2. That’s the level of performance they need. It’s not the work of a moment.”

Jolyon Palmer has seen ‘a different side’ of Fernando Alonso

Palmer had praise for Alonso, who was fiercely critical of Honda during his disastrous second stint at McLaren. Despite being one of the oldest drivers in recent F1 history, he has shown commendable ‘patience’.

Alonso warmly greeted Honda’s president at the Japanese GP, the race where he once labelled their engine ‘GP2’ standard. That perhaps encapsulated the change in his attitude.

Palmer is reminded of Alonso’s ‘test driver’ days at Renault in 2002, with each race weekend tantamount to ‘driving around in circles’ at this stage.

“I see from Fernando someone that’s not happy with the overall state of play at the moment,” said Palmer. “He’s also been pretty vocal this year.

• READ MORE: Fernando Alonso makes decision on his F1 future beyond 2026 after Aston Martin’s dire start

“But I also see patience from him, where you thought a two-time world champ, soon-to-be 45, this could be the sort of time of toys out of the pram, ‘we’re done here’, it’s not worked out, all of the dream of ’26 hasn’t happened.

“But I’ve seen a different side of Fernando here. The patience game, just thinking, ‘It’s not right, but what are we going to do about it?’

“We’re into 2002 Fernando here. He’s a test driver, for the first time in 25 years. That’s all Aston Martin are doing. It’s just such a crying shame that they are not even competitive. He finished behind a Cadillac. They are so far off.

“There is nothing to play for for him or Lance. Every weekend, they’ll turn up, drive around in circles, report a balance. It doesn’t even really matter at this stage.”