Aston Martin issue Fernando Alonso update as F1 star to miss start of Japan GP weekend

Aston Martin have confirmed that Fernando Alonso will miss the first day of the Japanese Grand Prix.

After a brief one week break, Formula One returns this weekend as the third race of the season takes place at the Suzuka Circuit in Japan.

Heading into the race, the biggest stories revolve around the title battle between Mercedes teammates George Russell and Kimi Antonelli and the struggles of Aston Martin.

Despite heading into pre-season with a lot of hype, 2026 couldn't have gone much worse for Aston Martin, with the Silverstone-based team struggling with reliability issues.

Last week, this led to team principal Adrian Newey stepping down ahead of Japan to instead focus exclusively on technical matters, with Audi team boss Jonathan Wheatley replacing him.

And now, the team have confirmed that they will be without veteran driver Alonso for the first day of testing in Suzuka as he awaits the birth of his first child.

Last year, the two-time champion revealed that he and partner Melissa Jimenez were expecting, but that the due date was set to clash with the with Japanese GP weekend this year.

Alonso and his partner Jimenez are expecting their first child together this week. (Image: Kym Illman/Getty Images)

Although missing the race itself wouldn't be possible, Aston Martin have ensured that the 44-year-old can be home for a part of the race weekend, as they confirmed that he would be skipping media duties on Thursday to allow him to arrive a day later on Friday.

This means that the Spaniard will also be absent for the first practice session, with Aston Martin's third driver Jak Crawford replacing him as one of the four rookie sessions that each team are required to do each season.

Confirming the news in a short statement, Aston Martin wrote: "Fernando is arriving slightly later this weekend for personal family reasons and won't be attending media day at the Japanese Grand Prix.

"All is well and he will be at the track in time for Friday."

Fernando Alonso addresses Aston Martin's issues

During the Chinese Grand Prix, Alonso was forced to retire early due to discomfort from the intense vibrations in the car, later claiming that he was losing the feeling in his hands and feet.

"Yeah, I could not probably finish the race anyway," the two-time F1 champion admitted post-race.

"The vibration level was very high today.

"At one point, from lap 20 to 33, I was struggling a little bit to feel my hands and my feet.

"We were one lap behind, we were last. It was probably no point to keep on going."

The Spanish driver later admitted that he didn't know when the 'many issues' with the Aston Martin car would be resolved, a sobering change to his optimistic beliefs ahead of the season starting.