ALONSO CREDITS ‘PHENOMENAL’ CAR AFTER STRONG DRIVE IN BRAZIL

Aston Martin clawed back some dignity at Interlagos after a dismal Mexico weekend that saw both cars retire early. Fernando Alonso qualified inside the top ten for the first time all season—his wet-weather savvy on display—and ran with Ferraris and Mercedes in race trim, even passing Lewis Hamilton on merit. He finished P12, just outside the points, but called the AMR26 "phenomenal" in the corners and joked the car was a second per lap faster than the silver arrows if you ignored the straight-line deficit.

The good news stops there. Lance Stroll retired again with an ERS failure, his eighth DNF in ten races. Aston Martin remains tenth in the Constructors', five points behind Williams. Alonso hasn't scored since Malaysia. The pace spike at Interlagos suggests the car has speed when the setup clicks, but reliability is a bleeding wound. Unless the power unit gremlins get exorcised, moral victories won't move them off the back row of the championship.