Fernando Alonso has given a positive initial assessment of the heavily upgraded Aston Martin AMR26 following the first day of practice at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
The two-time world champion finished 13th in FP1 and 19th in FP2, but the gap to the opposition was notably smaller than in previous rounds this season.
Aston Martin arrived in Hungary with what many are calling a B-spec version of the AMR26, representing one of the team’s most significant upgrade packages of the 2026 season.
Alonso’s Friday was not without complications, as teammate Lance Stroll suffered a suspension failure in FP1 that ruled him out of FP2 entirely, with the team unable to repair the car in time.
Despite that setback, Alonso came away from the day with optimism about the direction of the upgraded package and what it could mean for the remainder of the season.
“Yeah, it felt good,” he said after FP2. “I think in general we had what we expected in terms of numbers and correlation, which is obviously very encouraging for the future as well, for next year’s car and the future upgrades this year.”
He added: “So yeah, still a long way to go for us, obviously starting so far behind, but this is the first step, hopefully, of good ones coming.”
One of the key goals for Aston Martin with this upgrade was to close the gap in the corners to the top of the midfield, and Alonso indicated that objective appeared to have been met on day one.
“I don’t think there are any big surprises there or any big deficit in the corners now to the top of the midfield, which is obviously the first of our ambitions – to be at the top of the midfield,” Alonso noted.
Team boss and technical guru Adrian Newey confirmed earlier on Friday that the Hungarian package is only the beginning, with further new parts expected at Zandvoort and then again in Baku.
Honda is also expected to deliver an upgraded power unit at Zandvoort after the summer break, giving Aston Martin additional hope of further performance gains in the short term.
Alonso acknowledged that vibrations on the main straight had been an issue during FP1, a problem that had surfaced at various points earlier in the campaign, but said the team managed to address it for the afternoon session.
“Yeah, today we had some vibrations on the main straight, especially in FP1,” he said. “I think the guys fixed it more or less for FP2, so yeah, there are no concerns for tomorrow.”
With more data still to be analysed, Alonso remained measured but clearly heartened, saying the team had delivered “a positive atmosphere” knowing the car performed in line with expectations.
Sergio Perez also took notice of Aston Martin’s improved showing, stating: “They are definitely in the fight. They’ve been very strong today. The race pace looked also very strong, so I think they will be hard to beat this weekend.”