Alonso 'very emotional' after 'last' Barcelona GP DNF heartbreak

With the Barcelona GP set to be rotated on the F1 calendar every two years from the 2028 season onwards, Alonso kicked off the weekend with the message: "It's going to be a special weekend, probably my last Barcelona race in Formula 1, so I want to say thanks to everyone."

While a special weekend on-track was never likely to materialise given Aston Martin's struggles since the start of the 2026 season, it was already off to a poor start after Qualifying. For the first time since the 2024 British GP, Alonso had been outqualified by teammate Lance Stroll, finishing dead last in P22 to boot.

And things only got worse during Sunday's race, which Alonso had also started from the pit lane after a strategic decision made by Aston Martin to change his energy store and MGU-K.

On Lap 40, Alonso's AMR26 came to a halt at Turn 9, with the Spaniard later revealing a surprise battery failure had brought his race to an end with 26 laps still to go. “The engineer came on the radio saying to stop the car and jump out of the car. So I imagine it was an ERS problem when you have to jump out of the car. And yeah, apparently it's the battery." Alonso explained.

On a more positive note, Alonso was then asked on the reception from the Spanish fans during the driver parade prior to the Grand Prix. "It was the best part of the weekend, he said. As I knew, I mean, the fans were incredible the whole weekend. That was a very nice feeling, very emotional weekend for me. Maybe the last in Barcelona.

On how Aston Martin can improve their situation, Alonso highlighted the team's first point of the season at the previous race in Monaco as proof the team will not give up on any opportunity available to them this year.

Alonso said: "We need to stay together for sure. That point in Monaco proves that we are not giving up. Today, even if we were at the back of the grid, we were able to finish the race and take whatever opportunity [that] may come at the end with safety cars or whatever.