From crisis to hope? Aston Martin gives good directions and Alonso is guilty

A Aston Martin has had a season to forget, although the return after the summer break has everything to be more smiling. In the 11 races already held, the Silverstone-based construction company has only one point won by Fernando Alonso in Monaco. 

The team debuted alongside Honda for the supply of the drive unit, but the year did not start as expected and the results later appeared. Deep down, the AMR26 presented problems in the chassis (by Adrian Newey) and proved to be slow, not stable and even unreliable. 

However, these problems may have remained in the past, because the Hungarian Grand Prix was a breath of fresh air for Aston Martin. For the first time in 2026, one of the pilots (Fernanado Alonso) managed to get to Q2 and the duo managed to complete the race, staying on the dots. 

Lance Stroll finished in 13th place, ahead of the Spanish veteran, and the change of pace in the single places did not go unnoticed. It all happened due to a new version of the car, which provided better aerodynamic capacity and more competitive speed. 

In addition, the summer break in Formula 1 will serve so that the team can officially debut Honda's new engine at the next Netherlands Grand Prix. It will be in Zandvoort, between August 21 and 23, that Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso will be able to see what improvements have been made. 

As for the latest developments on Aston Martin, Honda's chief engineer, Shintaro Orihara, spoke about the benefits the team has in being able to rely on a couple of pilots who provide different information.

“This allows us to obtain dual information to improve driving or energy management,” he said, before leaving praise to Fernando Alonso.

“ You have a lot of experience and your comments are always critical. He has 20 years of experience. So if he says, “We need to apply this electric energy before entering a curve,” he added, in statements to Racing News 365, quoted by newspaper Mundo Deportivo. 

Considering that Shintaro owns a lot of experience, Shintaro recalls that the veteran is very motivated and that he is quite interventional with regard to the evolution of the single place. 

“Your opinion interests us very much and we like to hear it. That's a big advantage of working with Fernando. He is extremely motivated to improve the performance of the car. We're working closely together and we know he's a great pilot. He has a great passion and trusts Honda. Therefore, we want to give him what he wants; that is our goal ", he said. 

Who also had a say was the leader this partnership and president of Honda Racing Corporation ensured that the project is “improving more and more”.

“In Hungary, we focused on updating the chassis. For the next race in Zandvoort, updates will focus mainly on the power unit, but when we change something, we never develop just one aspect; everything goes hand in hand. The improvements began in Hungary and were evident”, he concluded, in statements to the Japanese portal Autosport Web.