(Motorsport-Total.com) – Aston Martin has handed over the red lantern in the 2026 Formula 1 season. With the Hungary update developed under the leadership of mastermind Adrian Newey, Fernando Alonso made it into the second qualifying phase for the first time this year on Saturday at the Hungaroring. He had already achieved this in sprint qualifying in Canada in May, but was unable to participate in SQ2 there due to an accident.
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In Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix, at least both cars saw the checkered flag: Lance Stroll in 13th, Alonso in 14th. Remarkable, because they left an Alpine as well as both Williams and Haas behind them. (To the race result!)
“We came here with the goal of going racing again. I think we achieved that,” says team principal Mike Krack, ticking off the first milestone. The revamped car is “lighter” and has “more downforce” – but: “Now we have to take the next steps.”
Encouraging: The fact that both drivers were able to go the full distance was not a given for Aston Martin until now. “No performance in the world helps you if the car breaks down,” says Krack. “And then you can’t develop further. […] The most important thing is that we complete races and learn about drivability, gear changes, and energy management.”
Performance improved “in the expected range”
How much lap time the update really brought is difficult to assess seriously. But Alonso notes with satisfaction: “I think it’s a good step forward. Both in qualifying and in the race. A solid working basis for the second half of the year. The correlation is correct, and the performance gain is in the expected range.”
“It’s still early with this car. New car, new concept – there’s still a lot to come when we optimize the set-up and so on,” believes the Spaniard. Krack also confirms: “The race pace was as expected. We haven’t driven much yet. Also, because we had problems in practice. We’re looking at the data now, and then we’ll see if we can get more out of it in Zandvoort.”
There are still four weeks until the Dutch Grand Prix – after Hungary, Formula 1 goes into its traditional summer break. After the holiday, Honda should also follow suit. Aston Martin’s power unit partner is also working on a development step behind the scenes. On the engine side, there’s “a bit of pressure in the boiler” after the chassis update, grins Alonso.
“Test day” planned with new Honda power unit
Before Zandvoort, Aston Martin-Honda will complete a so-called film day, i.e., filming for promotional shots. In reality, it’s a cover for a shakedown with the revamped power unit. “This is a good opportunity for us to test the new power unit with the new chassis,” admits Honda Chief Engineer Shintaro Orihara.
The Japanese doesn’t even deny that Honda is now under pressure to keep up with the chassis department: “Honestly, yes, that’s the case. The introduction of the new power unit in Zandvoort is very important. The chassis is working well now. Now our power unit also has to deliver lap time.”
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At the Hungarian weekend, it initially looked once again as if Honda was the weak point in the Aston-Honda system. Alonso complained about strong vibrations while driving in the first free practice session. Anyone who saw the first races of the season must have experienced a déjà vu.
But: “That was no longer an issue on Saturday,” confirms Alonso, who had a new power unit installed on Friday evening. However, the sudden disappearance of the vibrations had nothing to do with it, as Orihara explains: “Our analysis showed that it came from the temperatures. We started with the chassis on the conservative side. For that, the engine temperature was not optimized. So we adjusted a few settings, and then it got better.”
Alonso: Friendly tones towards Honda
Overall, it is noticeable that the atmosphere between Aston Martin and Honda is slowly becoming friendlier. While the collaboration at the beginning strongly resembled the time of one-sided blame from the McLaren-Honda era a few years ago, Newey and Co. seem to be slowly remembering that Honda worked best with Red Bull when necessary criticism was raised internally and discussed constructively, rather than being aired publicly.
Even Alonso, who has reached natural popularity limits among the engineers in Sakura at least since his legendary “GP2-Engine” radio message during his McLaren days, strikes a friendly tone towards Honda. He reminds: “At the beginning of the season, Honda helped us with some weaknesses of the car. Now we are trying to help Honda as much as possible.”
The veteran sees Budapest and Zandvoort as “the first step for both factories to regain confidence in what they are doing. I believe that is the most important thing for the coming weeks.”
But it is also clear: expectations are not yet sky-high. The bold statement from Williams driver Carlos Sainz that Aston Martin probably now has the best chassis in the midfield group only elicits a mild smile from Mike Krack: “I don’t think so.”
But the Luxembourger notes: “If the car works better, you might be able to make less conservative decisions in tire choice. And then the whole system works better. It all goes hand in hand: energy, grip, tires – and then also the strategies you can run.”
In the 2026 Constructors’ Championship, Aston Martin is in tenth place with one point after eleven of (currently) 23 planned race weekends. Eleven points behind Audi, ten behind Williams – and at least ahead of Formula 1 newcomer Cadillac (0). (To the 2026 Formula 1 calendar!)
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