Fernando Alonso gave a terse eight-word interview after suffering "frustration beyond imagination" when engine trouble appeared to cost Aston Martin a major opportunity in qualifying at the Mexico City Grand Prix.
Alonso had been 0.7 seconds off the lead in FP2 -- a rare margin for Aston Martin this season -- and had posted an early competitive lap in Q1, before being told to park up his car in the stadium section of the track.
The two-time world champion protested the decision and onboards showed him gesticulating angrily inside the cockpit as he stopped and as he got out of the car.
He was not in a talkative mood by the time he got to the media pen in the paddock.
The transcript of his interview with F1 TV went as follows:
Question: "Any idea what happened yet?"
Alonso: "Engine."
Question: "It looked like it was a big opportunity this weekend?"
Alonso: "It was."
Question: "The car's been looking good all weekend..."
Alonso: "Correct."
Question: "I can sense the frustration. Anything you can do from the back?"
Alonso: "Not from the back."
Alonso then walked away from the interview.
The Spaniard will start from 18th on the grid.
Aston Martin later confirmed that the team detected a suspected water pressure issue linked to the ERS system (Energy Recovery System), meaning they had to stop the car.
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The team came into F1's new regulations dreaming of breaking out of the grid's midfield and making the big five, but it arrived in 2026 miles off the pace with new engine partner Honda.
Alonso spoke in more detail to the written press shortly afterwards.
He explained that he had wanted to come back to the pits to fix the issue and potentially stay in the session.
"I was 100 metres away from the garage, but probably the problem was bigger than anything possible to do in the garage," he said. "So, yeah, the safest thing for everyone else also on track was to stop and I followed the instructions."
He added: "There is not much we can do, and I think we lost a big opportunity. So, yeah, frustration is beyond imagination, but this is the story of the year."
The Aston Martin has struggled to match the power output of rival manufacturers this year -- Alonso suggested the layout of the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez was perfect to score a morale-boosting result.
Asked why the car had looked stronger here, he said: "Less straights. There are two straights only into [Turn] 1, into [Turn] 4. The rest, with the level of grip so low, you hardly can go full throttle. So it is less power sensitive here."