Fernando Alonso is shaping up to be one of the best drivers of the 2026 Formula 1 season of Formula 1. This may sound surprising given that he hasn’t scored a single point yet, but that is due to the troubles plaguing his Aston Martin. If we look at the numbers, Alonso remains among the drivers who fare best.
Specifically, Alonso is the third driver who spends the most time per lap beating his teammate of the team, Lance Stroll. The Asturian leads the other Aston Martin by almost half a second in the six qualifying sessions we’ve counted, including the Sprint events. And Schumacher’s historic record is getting closer.
Fernando Alonso is 0.425 seconds faster than Lance Stroll
After four Grands Prix with six qualifying sessions, since two of them were Sprints, you can start drawing conclusions about who the best drivers of the year in Formula 1 are. And the numbers don’t lie: once again this season Fernando Alonso cracks the top three in the standings.
Specifically, Alonso is the third driver on the grid who gains the most time per lap over his teammate in qualifying. The Asturian has been 0.425 seconds faster than Stroll on average this season. Although the Aston Martin has not allowed him to score a single point yet, Alonso remains in peak form.
The only ones who surpass Alonso are Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly. The Red Bull Dutchman leads his teammate, Isack Hadjar, by 0.443 seconds per lap. Meanwhile, Gasly is putting 0.433 seconds per lap between himself and the Argentine Franco Colapinto with the same Alpine in qualifying. The three only drivers who reach four tenths per lap.
On the other side of the spectrum stands the enormous equality between the champion, Lando Norris, and his McLaren teammate, Oscar Piastri, whose performances are separated by only 0.036 seconds in Norris’s favor. As for Carlos Sainz, he is another of the big beneficiaries, as he outpaces Alexander Albon by 0.375 seconds with the same Williams.
Fernando Alonso needs 16 more races to tie Michael Schumacher’s record
Another metric that speaks to Alonso’s form is the number of consecutive qualifying sessions in which he has been beating Stroll. Alonso has beaten his teammate on the last 40 Saturdays, an uninterrupted streak since Silverstone 2024. It is already the third-longest in Formula 1 history, and not far from the record.
Alonso is just four qualifying sessions away from beating Ayrton Senna, who holds the second-best mark in history with 44. The best is Michael Schumacher, who raised it to 56. It might seem that Alonso has a long way to go, but he would actually tie it this very year if he remains unbeaten until November in Las Vegas.
Images | Aston Martin
