Aston Martin faced difficulties in the qualifying session for the Formula 1 Chinese GP, with both drivers failing to advance beyond Q1.
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Lance Stroll reported drivability issues: “It was a challenging qualifying session for me. I struggled with the car’s balance, suffering from understeer and rear wheel locking, which makes the car unpredictable to drive. We need to analyze the data to see where we can improve. We are learning with every lap and need to continue accumulating mileage and understanding of the car to overcome some of the challenges we face,” he said.
Fernando Alonso also recognized the car’s limitations: “I felt I got everything out of the car in this qualifying session, and I believe it was the best we could do. It was a trouble-free day for us and we completed our entire program, but we are simply lacking performance. Our goal will be to finish the race tomorrow and learn more about this package in racing conditions,” he added.
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Team principal Mike Krack highlighted the importance of the data collected: “Both cars completed more laps here in Shanghai, but we were unable to advance beyond Q1. We continue to learn and build our knowledge of this car, which will help us find more performance for the upcoming races. The cars ran reliably today and gave us important data, but the car is not easy to drive. We will regroup tonight to see where we can improve moving forward,” he added.
Read more F1: Check out the full qualifying result of the 2026 Chinese GP
