Fernando Alonso said his beaching in the gravel during practice at the Japanese Grand Prix was “weird”, which he will look to review.

Alonso appeared to dip a wheel onto the grass before the entry to Degner 1, which pitched the Aston Martin driver into a spin before he came to an abrupt halt, getting caught in the gravel and ending his FP2 session early.

Fernando Alonso reacts to ‘weird’ practice off at Suzuka

Alonso’s trip into the gravel brought out one of four red flags during a truncated FP2 session on Friday, with less than half the time used for on-track running.

Two grass fires later in the session, prompted by sparks landing on dry grass off the circuit, were responsible for two of those stoppages, along with Alonso’s off and a huge high-speed crash for Jack Doohan in his Alpine.

The two-time World Champion appeared competitive in his Aston Martin in first practice, finishing P7 in the standings before ending his second session early, and he hopes to carry that pace forward into qualifying on Saturday at Suzuka.

Speaking about his spin, he said after Friday’s running: “Yeah, I don’t know. I need to review it. I lost the car in a weird way, very windy and very gusty out there, and the car is a little bit critical.

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“But yeah, I don’t know if I put a tyre on the grass or something, I need to review it and try to avoid it tomorrow, but the day has been great.

“This is a fantastic circuit to drive, and a great atmosphere by the fans as well. So, hopefully putting on a good show tomorrow.

“[The track is] better. I mean, it’s grippier and very smooth, no bumps at all through the first sector, which is the most interesting part of the circuit with super high speed corners.

“So, yeah, really, really fun circuit to drive, really enjoyable lap when you are behind the wheel. So looking forward for more tomorrow.”

With Alonso having said before the weekend that “everything has to be perfect every weekend if we want to score points”, given how tightly packed the field is this season, he explained his hope that Aston Martin will appear to be more competitive this time around at Suzuka, having retired from both races so far in 2025.

“I think we are slightly more competitive than in China, so hopefully Q3 is possible tomorrow,” he stated.

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