(Motorsport-Total.com) – After the upcoming upgrade for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the AMR26 from Aston Martin will no longer be developed. This was confirmed by Chief Technical Officer Enrico Cardile in an interview on the team’s official website. Instead, the focus is entirely on closing the performance gap to the rest of the field with next year’s car.
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The AMR26 in its current version will serve as the basis for the upcoming car. In Hungary, an upgrade for the chassis was introduced, while in Zandvoort, among other things, the new power unit from Honda could be used. As a result, Fernando Alonso even managed to score points for the first time since the Monaco Grand Prix.
No upgrades after the race in Baku
The last upgrade for the AMR26 is supposed to significantly reduce the weight of the car. After that, no further upgrades are planned for this year’s vehicle, although Cardile raises an exception:
“The only exception would be if we find something in the development of the 2027 car that would sensibly be tested on the track to help our correlation. So far, [in this regard] nothing further is planned.”
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How much weight was saved with the upgrade, Cardile does not want to disclose. In the interview, he only speaks of “a significant amount” that would be relevant enough to dramatically improve lap times.
Disastrous year since testing
Since the test sessions, Aston Martin has been struggling with a car that was never seriously capable of competing in the league of the very best. Accordingly, they did not want to work with many small upgrades to achieve minimal progress, but rather implement a large package to understand and improve the fundamental problems of the AMR26 in the long term.
“That was a bold decision,” said Cardile in the interview, “a very bold decision. But it was the right decision.”
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Instead of subjecting themselves to the stress of constant updates week after week, according to Cardile, they took the time to dig deeper. Time to “rethink concepts, explore ideas that need more than just a few weeks to mature. Some concepts have huge potential but require patience.”
“By removing the pressure of ‘You have to deliver something in four or five weeks,’ we were able to create the space to create something more sustainable. For me, that was the only way to achieve the progress we have made. I don’t think we would have achieved that with a traditional, incremental approach.”
Weakness Honda?
According to Cardile, they have improved immensely, especially in race trim. This, in his assessment, is particularly crucial for 2027. It remains questionable whether Honda will be able to catch up the power unit deficit next year. No further major upgrades are planned this season.
Ultimately, Aston Martin is trying to learn as much as possible from the failed 2026 season and improve for 2027. Although they will work with completely new parts, the basic concept of the AMR26 remains. Nevertheless, they do not want to impose artificial limits on themselves.
“We are now on the right path,” said Cardile, “but we are not bound to it. Let me put it this way: For the 2027 project, we have not imposed any limits on ourselves regarding what we must carry over from the previous car.”
“In that sense, it is a completely new car, and it gives us the freedom and mindset to achieve exactly what we want to achieve.”
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