Fernando Alonso’s hopes of challenging for wins and titles with Aston Martin have been dampened by a frank assessment from Honda’s Chief engineer Shintaro Orihara.
Before the summer break, a significant upgrade package raised optimism that Aston Martin could become more competitive across the second half of the 2026 season.
A Honda power unit upgrade had been pencilled in for introduction at the Dutch Grand Prix, raising hopes of a meaningful step forward for the Silverstone-based outfit.
However, Orihara has warned that the upgrade will not resolve all of the team’s existing problems, and that true power competitiveness remains a long way off.
Elsewhere in the paddock, Red Bull junior Nikola Tsolov has responded to his F2 team boss publicly backing him for promotion to Formula 1 with Racing Bulls.
F2 team owner Adrian Campos declared after Silverstone that Tsolov “really deserves” a chance to prove himself at the highest level of the sport.
Tsolov admitted those comments caught him off guard, with the 19-year-old Bulgarian leading the F2 standings after sweeping both the sprint and feature races at the British Grand Prix weekend.
Four-time world champion Max Verstappen has also been making headlines after declaring he is “fed up” talking about Formula 1’s new regulations, amid ongoing uncertainty around his F1 future.
The sweeping aerodynamic and power unit regulation changes introduced simultaneously for 2026 have attracted significant criticism from drivers and engineers throughout the paddock.
Formula 1 returns from its summer break this weekend with the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, an event that could prove to be the circuit’s final appearance on the world championship calendar.
The track has hosted over 30 world championship races since first appearing on the calendar in 1952, making it one of the most historic venues in the sport’s history.
Adding further intrigue to the farewell weekend, weather forecasts suggest that wet conditions could arrive at Zandvoort, potentially giving fans their first glimpse of the 2026-spec cars running in the rain.