Unfortunate end to the Japanese Grand Prix

Aston Martin Aramco Formula One™ Team driver Lance Stroll suffered misfortune during the Japanese Grand Prix and had to retire the car.

Getting to grips

Ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix, Suzuka Circuit had been resurfaced, resulting in unknown grip levels. Therefore, the weekend’s Free Practice sessions were key to learning as much as possible about the circuit.

As well as this, throughout FP1, Lance and the team worked on developing a better understanding of the AMR26’s aerodynamics.

Lance completed his full run programme and tested all three tyre compounds across the three Free Practice sessions, accumulating a total of 62 laps ahead of Qualifying.

This valuable data gave the team a clearer understanding of the car and highlighted areas to focus on.

WATCH: 2026 JAPANESE GRAND PRIX FREE PRACTICE ONE HIGHLIGHTS

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Car issues in Qualifying

In Q1, Lance initially set a time of 1:32.920.

However, he experienced energy management issues with the AMR26 on his final Q1 run, therefore losing a few tenths. This meant he was unable to improve, and unfortunately, Lance finished the session in P22.

WATCH: 2026 JAPANESE GRAND PRIX QUALIFYING HIGHLIGHTS

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Progress amid misfortune

Lance started the Japanese Grand Prix from P22. On the Medium tyre, he gained a position on the first lap.

Another overtake came on Lap 8 when Lance passed team-mate Fernando Alonso for P20.

A Safety Car on Lap 22 allowed Lance to pit for Hard tyres. After one lap on the Hards, he pitted again under the Safety Car for new Mediums and returned to the track in P19.

Unfortunately, a few laps after the Safety Car ended, Lance was called into the pits following a suspected water pressure issue. Subsequently, he had to retire the car after completing 31 laps.

Team-mate Alonso was able to complete full race distance, marking progress for Aston Martin Aramco Formula One™ Team. The team will now work to deliver improvements to the AMR26 during the month-long period before the next Grand Prix.

Lance’s season will continue in Miami on 1-3 May.‍

WATCH: 2026 JAPANESE GRAND PRIX HIGHLIGHTS

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Lance Stroll, Aston Martin Aramco Formula One™ Team, said:

"I was enjoying the race today, even though we were not competitive and battling for the last few positions. Suzuka is always a fun track to drive so it was a shame we couldn't make it to the end. We still need to investigate, but it looks like a water pressure issue on the ICE. I was having a fun race up until that point, defending from Fernando, but it's clear we have a lot of things to work on and need to find a lot of speed. We know the issues we have so it's about tackling those as quickly as we can."