Fernando Alonso expressed clear satisfaction with the latest evolution of his Aston Martin, describing the car’s behaviour as "much better" after the team unveiled a comprehensive upgrade package during the Friday practice session for the Hungarian Grand Prix. The British‑based outfit had entered the current season’s new technical regulations with the ambition of breaking into the sport’s traditional "big four" and mounting a genuine title challenge. However, the campaign has been hampered by a severely under‑performing Honda power unit and a chassis, overseen by the legendary Adrian Newey, that has fallen short of expectations.
While rival teams have introduced a series of incremental upgrades throughout the year, Aston Martin chose to wait until the eleventh round in Budapest to roll out a single, large‑scale package comprising sixteen new components. The timing proved a double‑edged sword. During the first practice period, Lance Stroll suffered a left‑rear suspension failure that forced him out of the second session, but Alonso managed a relatively smooth run and left the paddock feeling cautiously optimistic.
"It was much better," the two‑time champion said when asked about the car’s feel. "The chassis seemed more glued to the tarmac and the car was easier to drive, especially when you can control the grip through the corners.
It’s a more predictable and manageable machine, but we still have a long way to go. Of course, this is only the first step." The chassis overhaul arrives just ahead of Honda’s scheduled delivery of a significant power‑unit upgrade, expected to debut at the Dutch Grand Prix after the summer hiatus.
Alonso highlighted the importance of improvements on both fronts: "We need to extract more performance from the chassis, but also from the engine. Zandvoort will be a good test for the new engine. Step by step, we are moving in the right direction." He added that the package appears to be delivering what the team hoped for: "It looks better, for sure, and it matches our expectations. The most encouraging thing is that the gains we predicted on paper are actually translating on track.
That correlation is exactly what we need for next year’s project, and it’s creating a positive atmosphere within the team." Alonso’s qualifying position in the second practice session – 19th on the timesheet, sandwiched between the two 2026 newcomers from Cadillac – seemed modest, but the Spaniard explained that a faster lap was lost due to a track‑limits infringement. Additional factors, such as traffic and a red‑flag interruption caused by Alpine’s Franco Colapinto crashing, further limited his ability to set a clean time.
Nevertheless, Alonso believes there is still room for improvement: "The red flag and the traffic made it tricky to maximise a lap. There may be a little more to come from us, but it could be the same for everyone, so we’ll see tomorrow.
We focused on testing the new parts and understanding a setup direction that could be very different from what we ran at the last few events. I think there’s more potential to unlock tonight and into tomorrow’s qualifying." Newey, who joined Aston Martin from Red Bull in March 2025 as the most decorated designer in Formula 1 history, admitted that his short‑term goal is simply to achieve "respectability" for the team.
Speaking at a press conference between Friday’s two practice sessions, he said: "The first races have been a complete nightmare. Hopefully we can get at least a point and some respectability now.
That is the immediate aim. From there we can try to keep moving forward." The press conference took place before Stroll’s second‑practice outing was cancelled, after the team was unable to repair the left‑rear suspension failure in time.
Newey praised Stroll’s composure in avoiding the barriers when the component broke, causing the car to spin late in the opening session. He admitted that the cause of the failure was not immediately clear: "Everyone is feverishly trying to understand exactly what went wrong as we speak.
Only once we have a clear picture can we decide what to do next." Further investigation revealed that the broken part was not a brand‑new element, but its failure was complicated by the surrounding new components. "The area involved wasn’t changed, but the surrounding cladding and other parts are different, so we have limited spares and the situation was unexpected," Newey explained. Looking ahead, the weekend schedule includes an F3 sprint, the final practice session for the Hungarian Grand Prix, an F2 sprint, qualifying, and the race itself on Sunday, all broadcast live on Sky Sports F1 and available via the NOW streaming service. The Hungarian Grand Prix will be the next test of whether the upgraded chassis and the forthcoming Honda engine will finally allow Aston Martin to compete more closely with the sport’s established front‑runners, and whether Alonso’s optimism will translate into tangible points on the scoreboard.