Fernando Alonso becomes a father and will miss media day in Suzuka

While there has been no official announcement, Aston Martin said in a statement: "Fernando is arriving slightly later this weekend for personal family reasons and won’t be attending media day at the Japanese Grand Prix.

"All is well and he will be at the track in time for Friday," the statement added.

However, various reports in the media have confirmed that the two-time Formula 1 Champion will be missing the media day as his partner gave birth to their first child.

Earlier in the week, Aston Martin confirmed that Alonso will not take part in FP1 making way for the team's third driver Jak Crawford as part of the mandatory young driver free practice allocation.

The Spaniard did not share any update on the matter.

Alonso has been enduring a disastrous start to the 2026 season with his Aston Martin being way off the pace with a subpar Honda power unit while vibrations are preventing the team to complete a race distance due to reliability concerns and more importantly health concerns for the drivers who are struggling with the vibrations coming through the steering wheel.