Aston Martin finds hope: Alonso sees “a lot of potential” after update

– Aston Martin has launched the highly anticipated major vehicle update at the 2026 Hungarian Grand Prix. The AMR26’s evolution, practically dubbed B-spec, is intended to make the team more competitive again after a disappointing first half of the season.

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The team considers the qualifying result an important success. Fernando Alonso reached Q2 for the first time in a long while, finishing 16th. Although the Spaniard was still around 2.4 seconds off the best time in the second qualifying segment, the comparison with Belgium clearly shows the progress: there, Aston Martin was already more than four seconds behind in Q1. The gap to the front could therefore be significantly reduced.

Above all, however, Alonso believes that the new car is far from reaching the end of its development. For the two-time world champion, the biggest plus right now is not the pure lap time, but the certainty that the development concept apparently works.

Alonso: “No nasty surprise”

Alonso describes the fact that the update fundamentally met expectations as the most important aspect of the entire weekend. “When you bring a new car, it’s always important that the correlation is right and the package delivers exactly what you expect,” explains the Spaniard. “Even if it’s exactly what we expected, it was important that there were no nasty surprises.”

Because precisely this risk always exists with extensive vehicle upgrades. Wind tunnel, simulation, and racetrack do not necessarily align. At Aston Martin, this alignment seems to have been successful this time. Nevertheless, Alonso emphasizes that the team only partially understands the potential of the new car so far.

“We learned something new in every session. Even after qualifying, we learned something new about the car’s balance. If we had another session now, we would probably change the set-up again.”

“We are not yet at the level of the package”

For Alonso, Aston Martin is still in the middle of the learning phase. However, this is completely normal given the extent of the changes. “We are nowhere near where the package could actually be,” he says. “I believe there is significantly more potential in the car.”

The work was further complicated by the limited practice time. After Lance Stroll lost valuable driving time on Friday, the team lacks important comparative data. “Unfortunately, we also lost a car in practice yesterday. As a result, we simply lack experience with the new parts.”

This makes the tuning work significantly more complicated. Especially with such a profound update, engineers usually collect as much data as possible to find the optimal vehicle setup.

More Downforce – and a significantly more forgiving car

Alonso, however, does not feel any drastic changes in driving behavior. The fundamental characteristics have remained similar. “The car drives more or less like before,” he explains. “We simply have more downforce and overall more grip.”

This pays off especially in fast corners. “The car has become a bit more consistent throughout the entire corner. It’s simply a bit more forgiving on turn-in, at the apex, and on corner exit.” Alonso sees this as one of the biggest improvements. “The previous car was more difficult to drive.”

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More downforce therefore not only means higher cornering speeds but also makes it easier for drivers to consistently push to the limit. More important than the position: The team has a direction again. For Alonso, the value of the update goes far beyond the pure qualifying result anyway.

“It was incredibly important for everyone in the team.” The Spaniard recalls how difficult the first half of the season had been. “They were tough months in both factories. We had a big performance deficit.” While the new package may not have brought huge jumps on the grid on paper, it had an enormous internal impact.

“It may not have changed many positions, but it completely changed the mood in the team.” Above all, Aston Martin now finally has clarity. “We are no longer chasing something we don’t even know exactly what it is. Now we know exactly what we are looking for.”

These insights are crucial for the next development steps. We know the goals for the next update and we know the goals for next year’s car. That is the biggest change of this weekend for me.”

Stroll: “We simply need everything”

While Alonso at least reached Q2, Lance Stroll was eliminated in the first qualifying segment. However, the Canadian had significantly less driving time available after practically losing two sessions on Friday.

“Yesterday was very costly,” Stroll says about the practice deficit. Nevertheless, he also saw clear progress. “We definitely have more downforce.” Stroll now identifies the decisive deficit elsewhere. “I think we simply lack a lot of engine power.”

That is now obvious. “It’s no secret that we lack power. We are doing everything we can.” This is particularly noteworthy at the Hungaroring, where engine power traditionally matters less than on many other tracks. This deficit is likely to become even more apparent on the upcoming high-speed circuits.

Mysterious excursion in Turn 12

His Q1 lap was additionally ended by an unexpected incident. “We were about half a second faster on the last lap,” Stroll reports. Then a strong tailwind gust in Turn 12 surprised the car. “We had about ten km/h tailwind and suddenly the car just didn’t want to turn in anymore.”

The Aston Martin shot straight into the gravel trap. “That was really annoying. I think we could have reached Q2 today.” Nevertheless, Stroll also evaluates the overall package positively. “We have made a big step in downforce.”

However, the work is far from over. “We simply need everything. We need the engine power of the others. We need to continue finding downforce. And we need to improve the balance.” Because despite the progress, there are still significant weaknesses. “We still have many handling problems.”

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