Fernando Alonso sets ‘most important’ outcome for B-Spec Aston Martin

Fernando Alonso has warned Aston Martin’s major AMR26 upgrade will not deliver race wins – but insists it could be the breakthrough the team desperately needs.

The heavily upgraded Aston Martin challenger is set to debut at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Alonso said the “most important” thing is that this is a car which he and Lance Stroll can push to the maximum, thus creating a clear development path for the team to follow.

Fernando Alonso wants an AMR26 which can guide Aston Martin

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Aston Martin has been somewhat hamstrung during the first half of the F1 2026 season, as the team waits for its redesigned AMR26 to go live. That is scheduled to happen in Hungary, the final round before the summer break.

An upgraded Honda engine should then be waiting on the other side at Zandvoort.

Aston Martin has become detached at the back of the pack with an AMR26 that has remained in its current spec since Melbourne. Under the leadership of Adrian Newey, it was decided that frequent, smaller upgrades would be of no value to the team. A major, transformative package was seen as the way to go.

Alonso, when speaking with PlanetF1.com and others, stressed that the B-Spec AMR26 must be the “first step,” not the last in the team’s recovery. It is a car which Alonso says must be capable of being pushed to the limit, and one which will be Aston Martin’s north star.

Asked about the significance of this new AMR26, Alonso said: “It is important, to see that the direction that we took, and all the time that we took as well… Since Bahrain probably the team made the decision to wait for a proper package to be introduced, whenever it was, we didn’t know if it was race seven or race 12 or at the end of the year.

“But we knew that, ‘Okay, this is our starting place and position, this is not good enough. We are lacking downforce, power, gearbox, experience, all these kind of things. So we need to make a study, we need to regroup, and we need to make a plan.’

“I think for the fans, they want us to win races and to fight for the championship. This year, whatever the upgrade is, and whatever we can improve, will be never enough. We will always miss an extra package.

“That has to be clear for the fans. We are working day and night to improve the car. We will get better. We will not win races this year. This is only the first step into the plan. It cannot be the last one.

“For me, it’s important to feel in Hungary that we are understanding what are the weaknesses of the car, and we are tackling them.

“Especially on the aero package, that is the first one that is coming. We’re struggling with very specific things this year behind the wheel, and if those are improved in Hungary, and we can drive the car to maximum, then I think there is a very clear path and a good momentum that we can take for next year. So that’s for me the most important thing.”

More on Aston Martin from PlanetF1.com

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Aston Martin explains why its upgrade gamble differs from Ferrari’s approach

Alonso has scored Aston Martin’s only point of F1 2026 with P10 in Monaco.

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

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