Aston Martin unleash new chassis as Fernando Alonso insists "zero doubts" over Adrian Newey

The Honda-powered team arrive at the Hungaroring 10th of 11 teams in the 2026 Formula 1 Constructors’ Championship, with only one point from the opening 10 rounds.

Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll will both receive the new specification, featuring significant aerodynamic changes, reduced weight and an entirely new chassis. The gearbox remains unchanged, while Honda’s more powerful engine upgrade is scheduled for the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort in late August.

Chief Trackside Officer Mike Krack revealed to reporters Aston Martin’s immediate priority: “The reason why we do this is to go racing. We have not been racing over the last events and this is what we need to return to. Where we race in a big, competitive field we will see. This I can really not predict, but the key question is that we are back in the game, because we were not before.”

Aston Martin’s struggles reached their lowest point at last weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, where Alonso finished last among the classified runners and two laps behind Mercedes winner Kimi Antonelli.

In qualifying, Antonelli’s pole-position time was more than four seconds quicker than either Aston Martin. The team were also around two seconds adrift of the nearest midfield opposition at Spa-Francorchamps.

Neither Alonso nor Stroll has progressed beyond the opening phase of qualifying during the 2026 season. Aston Martin’s only point came in Monaco, where Alonso finished 11th on the road before Sergio Perez was demoted from 10th, promoting the Spaniard into the final points position.

The scale of the deficit means Aston Martin are attempting a major development step rather than introducing several smaller upgrade packages across multiple race weekends.

However, Krack warned that the team will need time to understand the new car and establish its ideal operating window “We do not expect that we get everything out of it in the first run tomorrow. I think we need to learn how to manage this and how to get the best out of it.

“We have a good track team, we have a good support team from home that will go through that data quickly and we will get the right conclusions quickly, but it will take a bit of time. I think the tests we will have to do, the basic tests — be it ride-height, rakes and these kind of things — will come over the next events," he added.

The previous specification cars will remain available as spares, while Honda Trackside General Manager Shintaro Orihara said the upgrade should not cause a recurrence of the vibration problems that affected Aston Martin earlier in the season.

Alonso is similarly attempting to manage expectations, despite welcoming Aston Martin’s first substantial update of the campaign. The double F1 World Champion admitted that even a major chassis change cannot immediately recover the enormous deficit the team experienced in Belgium.

Alonso said: “There were a couple of tough circuits; I think Silverstone was tough, Spa was one of the toughest — I think we had the guy in front of us by 2.1 seconds. There is no package in the world that will give you that amount of time, and probably the position will not change if you ran the updated car in Spa one week ago.”

The Hungaroring should provide a more favourable test for Aston Martin. Its short straights and downforce-dependent corners place less emphasis on outright power, potentially limiting the damage caused by Honda’s current engine deficit.

Alonso continued: “Hopefully Budapest is a friendly circuit for us. Power is not the most important point here. Obviously we will update the car, but not the engine yet. We still have some deficit that we need to overcome. I’m more into the weekend, understanding what is the direction of the car, if we’re on a good path, and if we unlock finally the performance.”

The Hungarian package represents the first major indication of whether Adrian Newey can reverse Aston Martin’s collapse and establish a credible development direction.

Despite the team’s current position, Alonso remains convinced Newey and Honda will eventually deliver a competitive package: “I think I have a pretty clear picture of the team, that we will fix all the problems. They take time, but I have no doubts, I have zero doubts that Adrian will provide the best car on the grid sooner or later.

“On the power unit, I think I have no doubts as well. It’s a matter of time that Honda fixes the issues. We started on the back foot, yes, we’re dealing with that process now, and that pain on the weekends. It’s just how soon the car will be competitive — that’s the question mark. Maybe the next two races will give us a little bit of a feeling for that.”

Alonso’s future remains under discussion, although he dismissed suggestions he could leave before his existing deal expires. Asked when his plans might be confirmed, the 45-year-old smiled and replied: “I do have a contract, so I’m not moving!”

Hungary will not provide every answer. It should, however, reveal whether Aston Martin have finally stopped falling backwards.
(Reporting by Agnes Carlier from Hungaroring)