F1's Hybrid Challenge
Fernando Alonso Labels Current F1 Hybrid Cars 'Worst Ever' After Monaco Practice Struggles
Fernando Alonso said the current Formula 1 generation is the worst he has ever driven at Monaco, after Friday practice left him down in 20th and struggling with an Aston Martin car he described as difficult, inconsistent, and hard to fix quickly. He blamed chronic understeer and poor front grip, alongside drivetrain and gearbox problems that made downshifts, corner entry speed, and harvesting/deployment behaviors unpredictable in Monaco’s tight sections. Alonso argued that the hybrid energy system and how batteries are recharged and managed—turning braking into something that can vary lap to lap—undermine driver confidence on a circuit where precision is everything. He added that Monaco may not suit these cars well, noting that energy-recovery rules can leave the car with little or no engine braking depending on battery state. Separate reporting also pointed to deeper Aston Martin engineering struggles this season, including issues integrating the Honda power unit and reports of severe vibrations that the team has worked to address heading into Monaco.
Key Points
Alonso gave a blunt ethical/technical verdict on the hybrid-era rules, saying: “Hybrid cars shouldn’t race. It’s very simple,” after explaining that if the battery is already fully charged, braking/lift can result in “no engine braking” because there’s nothing left to recharge.
Alonso linked some of the weekend’s unpredictability to Monaco’s energy-recovery timing, describing a scenario where the car recharges to “100% capacity too early,” at which point it “can no longer harvest energy,” triggering a “complete lack of consistent engine braking” on corner entry.
Aston Martin’s off-track troubles appear to have been extreme: reporting said the AMR26 has suffered “severe, aggressive vibrations” from the Honda engine since Melbourne, and that ahead of Monaco “Team Principal Adrian Newey… and the factory had been working flat out” to solve harmonic issues that previously “risked causing permanent nerve damage to the drivers.”
The grid context for Aston Martin’s Monaco struggles was also stark: one report noted Alonso was 20th in Friday practice while teammate Lance Stroll went slowest in the session, “even trailing behind the debuting Cadillac team.”
Alonso’s criticism was framed against broader 2026-style changes, including that cars have been “made lighter and shorter,” and that a Monaco-specific “Straight Mode” had been removed—changes that were expected to increase downforce but didn’t improve his experience.
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