Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso secured his team's first SQ2 appearance of the 2026 Formula One season despite crashing into the wall during the Canadian Grand Prix sprint qualifying session on Friday, May 22.
The Spanish driver locked his front tires heading into Turn 3 and hit the barrier after failing to use the escape road.
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The incident triggered an immediate red flag that froze the field and protected his 14th-place positioning.
Red Flag Preserves Alonso's Position
The first sprint qualifying session restarted at 16:59 local time with less than two minutes remaining.
That proved insufficient for rival drivers to post improved lap times and displace Alonso from the top 14.
"I locked up the front and there is no room to avoid anything here in Canada. Too much on the limit," said Alonso.
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The former world champion noted that his team has struggled to find competitive pace during the weekend, forcing him to overcompensate during the qualifying laps in Montreal.
"We are a little behind with the pace so we were pushing seven or eight places more than we should have," Alonso added.
According to Sky Sports, Alonso's teammate Lance Stroll failed to match the Spaniard's pace and was eliminated in SQ1 alongside Valtteri Bottas, Sergio Perez, and Pierre Gasly.
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Liam Lawson and Alex Albon did not participate in the session.
