Report: Struggles in Suzuka
Alex finishes P20 in the 2026 Japanese GP
Published
29 MAR 2026
Est. reading time
2 min
Alex will head into the Formula 1’s April break with a lot to reflect on after his latter laps of the 2026 Japanese GP turned into an ad-hoc test session.
Four trips to the pits in the closing stages of the race had the Atlassian Williams F1 Team making adjustments to the car, and Alex tumbled from P17 to P20.
Vibrations and energy deployment dashed any hopes that Alex had of climbing through the midfield towards the points from the race start.
Although a strong start had him climb up to P16, it did look like more was possible before the congested pack tightened around him.
Ollie Bearman sped past the Williams on the opening tour, dropping Alex back to P17. Alex was unable to make up any ground and next succumbed to Nico Hulkenberg.
With almost every other driver choosing the Mediums for their opening stint, Alex was unable to make up any ground and next succumbed to Nico Hulkenberg.
Not quite quick enough to close in on the midfield ahead but possessing enough speed to stay ahead of the Aston Martins and Cadillacs behind, Alex settled in for a long race.
A Safety Car appearance on Lap 23 interrupted the day, allowing for a cheap pit stop, but it did not help Alex’s plight.
Radio messages looking to negate the car troubles ended up with a late-race pit stop for Soft tyres.
Three further trips to the pits followed, and Alex dropped from that P17 to P20 by the time the chequered flag fell.
Alex's Japanese GP saw him trialling different setups as the race ended
“I was in traffic for the race so nothing really happened to me and it turned into a bit of a test session as we wanted to try a few things on the front wing to understand it a bit better and have some data,” said Alex following the race.
“The car is feeling okay for what we have and the team has been working really hard to get it into a good position in these three weeks.
“Realistically we are achieving what we can achieve and executing our races as best as we can but we just need to get on top of some issues and get a bit more speed in the car.
“We have a lot of work to do but we have about five weeks now as a team so there's a lot that we can improve and I think this is going to benefit us so that we can come back stronger in Miami.”
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