Alonso questions ‘money machine’ rival upgrades after Adrian Newey hits pause
The Aston Martin AMR26 is the team's first car designed by Adrian Newey
Fernando Alonso expressed surprise at the rate of upgrades introduced by rival teams, at a time where Aston Martin is taking a different path under the leadership of Adrian Newey.
While Aston Martin has opted against a series of smaller upgrades in favour of a substantial package to come, other teams are developing at pace. That continued in Austria with Red Bull and Cadillac, Aston Martin’s direct rival, introducing major packages. Alonso is wondering where teams are keeping the “money machine” for all these upgrades.
Fernando Alonso surprised by F1 2026 development battle
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With a radical overhaul to the regulations coming into play for F1 2026, a fierce battle between teams on the upgrade front was always expected. This has proven to be the case.
Ferrari were the big hitters with a Barcelona upgrade, and in Austria it was Red Bull which showed up with a seven-part package. In what was another jam-packed FIA document, Cadillac topped the list with 10 updates, all focused on performance.
When it was suggested to Alonso that he agreed with the Aston Martin decision to withdraw from this development ding-dong battle, the two-time world champion questioned that narrative, and where the teams are getting their money from.
It is important to note that such expenditure is governed by a cost cap, for all 11 teams.
“I didn’t agree, but apparently there is no money to bring upgrades, unlimited upgrades, like the other teams do,” Alonso told PlanetF1.com and others in Austria.
“It’s surprising to see the FIA page on Friday every race.
“Maybe they have the money machine in the minus one [floor] in the factory.”
Considering that response, Alonso was asked whether he questioned Aston Martin’s development decision, or has doubts about it with the team operating at the back of the grid.
“No, I didn’t question it,” Alonso clarified, “because obviously we don’t know exactly the cost cap limitations and how much is going to change in the car, and the time that was needed to understand the problems.
“It’s not that you can trial and error with some of the upgrades, so I think we took the first three or four races to really understand our weaknesses and our limitations, to start testing on the wind tunnel solutions, to see also the other cars what kind of solutions they implement, and which ones are working.
“When you take all that to the table, you start programming the upgraded package, and obviously it takes time.
“After missing Barcelona and being in Bahrain with a bad first test and knowing our situation in Australia, which back then we didn’t know if we could complete the race, that was the uncomfortable truth that we found in Australia.
“The decision was made, and I think it’s the right decision.
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“For us, it doesn’t change to bring three or four tenths in a couple of grand prix, and still be fighting at the back. We need something bigger than that.
“Everyone in the factory is working flat-out, and we need to give credit to them. We don’t know yet the results, and we don’t see the result yet, but we cannot underestimate Aston Martin as much as has been done in the last few weeks.”
Alonso – who has hit out at perceived “borderline abuse” of Aston Martin in coverage of the team’s issues – has scored Aston Martin’s sole point of the season so far with P10 in Monaco.
Additional reporting by Thomas Maher
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