Racing
© Jonathan Borba
Aston Martin confirmed Fernando Alonso will not attend Thursday's media day and will skip FP1 at the Suzuka Circuit. He is staying with his partner, journalist Melissa Jiménez, who is due to give birth to their first child. The team expects Alonso to be at the track in time for FP2 on Friday.
Aston Martin said Alonso is arriving later for personal family reasons and will join the weekend from Friday. The change covers only the opening day. He will miss his media duties and the first practice session. The team has set its plan for Friday around his return.
Jak Crawford will drive the AMR-26 in FP1 as part of a planned program to give track time to a young driver in the rookie session. The team had scheduled this running and kept it in place. Crawford, acting as the team's young driver and third driver, will handle the car on Friday morning. The lap count and feedback from that session will support the crew's work before Alonso arrives.
Aston Martin said Alonso intends to take part in FP2 on Friday and continue for the rest of the Japanese Grand Prix weekend. That means the sporting impact is limited to the opening day. The team will have one of its regular race drivers back in the car from the second session. The aim is to keep the weekend plan on track once he is in the garage.
This will be Alonso's first child. Jiménez works in Formula 1 as a reporter. Once the baby is born, Alonso will become the fourth current F1 driver who is a father, alongside Max Verstappen, Nico Hülkenberg and Sergio Pérez. The personal news explains his later arrival and the brief change to Aston Martin's Thursday and early Friday schedule.
The team structure for Suzuka remains stable beyond FP1. Crawford will complete the rookie session in the AMR-26, then hand the car back to Alonso for FP2. From that point, Alonso will take part in the normal practice and qualifying build-up for the rest of the weekend. The Friday change does not alter the plan for the race itself.
Media day will proceed without Alonso's presence. Aston Martin will handle press duties as planned with its wider team. The focus on Friday will move to on-track work once Alonso is in the car. The crew will review FP1 findings and prepare the AMR-26 for the afternoon session.
The timing gives Alonso a short window to settle into the weekend, but the team has made clear that his program resumes with FP2. Crawford's FP1 assignment keeps the car running and provides fresh data for the engineers. With Alonso due back for Friday afternoon and the remainder of the event, the change does not extend beyond the first session at Suzuka.