F1 News: Aston Martin insider reveals 'reality' of team's issues ahead of critical upgrades

Aston Martin F1

Aston Martin insider reveals 'reality' of F1 team's issues ahead of critical upgrades

The latest out of Aston Martin

Graham Shaw Consultant Editor

Digital sports specialist running global brands for 30 years

Tuesday 7 July 2026 14:00

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Aston Martin will have that eagerly-awaited upgrades package for the Hungarian Grand Prix later this month, but long-suffering fans should not get ahead of themselves just yet.

It has been a tortuous 2026 so far for the Silverstone team, a far cry from the pre-season expectations of team principal Adrian Newey designing a car to contend for race wins.

Instead, major issues with the new Honda power unit added to chassis shortcomings mean the team cannot even keep pace with Cadillac, the new team on the F1 grid.

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The sight of all-time great and two-time world champion Fernando Alonso qualifying 22nd and last for the British Grand Prix was a painful one, but there is hope that the comeback is about to begin.

F1 HEADLINES: Verstappen exit clause active as Horner breaks silence

New-look Aston planned for Hungarian Grand Prix

Last week design genius Newey confirmed that the massive planned upgrades package is scheduled for Hungary on July 26. The team decided against smaller and more incremental improvements in favour of waiting for one big bang.

Newey said during a wonderfully transparent state of the nation interview last week that the upgrade will have a double impact - improving the aero performance of the car and drastically reducing its weight.

"The main structural elements remain the same - the chassis and gearbox architecture don't fundamentally change – but we've taken weight out of both, which required re-homologating and crash testing the forward chassis," he said.

"The front suspension is unchanged. The rear suspension is slightly revised. We've developed a new nose and substantially revised aerodynamic surfaces. So, while the core structure is similar, it's a big aerodynamic package coupled with significant weight reduction. The target is to get very close to the weight limit."

Expectations are sky-high, but this is the 'reality'

Newey also later said he was hopeful that the upgrades would finally put Aston Martin in a position to have a regular chance of scoring points. But the team is at pains to manage expectations, which are understandably sky-high after the long and agonising wait.

Team ambassador and former F1 driver Pedro De La Rosa spoke with Spanish broadcaster DAZN during the Silverstone weekend, and spoke about the 'reality' of the situation.

"Part of my job is also to send a message of reassurance. We’re a long way off, we’re a long way off Cadillac. That’s the reality, that’s our reality.

"So yes, it’s going to be a big step. But because we’re so far behind, we don’t want to say where we think we’ll be, or where we want to be.

"I think the important thing is that a great deal of work has been done in every area. The weight has also been reduced, not just the aerodynamics. And we’ll see."

Fernando and Lance 'need a car they can fight with'

De La Rosa stressed that a big aim for Aston Martin right now is to give drivers Alonso and Lance Stroll a car which allows them to fight other teams, not just each other.

It's been a difficult 2026 so far for Stroll and Alonso.

"In the end, what I said yesterday, I’ll repeat it. For me, the most important thing is that we give Fernando and Lance a car they can fight with. Where they alone will really determine the outcome.

"But they can’t fight at the moment because they’re not in a fight with anyone."

Aston Martin battling systemic legacy issues

As Aston Martin look to come out of the other side of an F1 nightmare, Newey has also been open about the issues he faced when he joined the team. Some of them which had been decades in the making.

He admitted: "We were relying on tools and processes that had been patched and bodged for years - you could trace some of them right back to the very early days of the Jordan team that was based here in Silverstone, long before Aston Martin returned to the grid.

"At some point, a system that's just patch‑on‑patch stops being fit for purpose. That's where we had got to.

"The result was a very frustrating car build. Parts weren't being ordered at the right time - not because people weren't doing their jobs, but because the underlying system was failing them."

Written by

Graham Shaw - Consultant Editor

Digital sports leader with 30 years of senior level experience running global brands. Built sportinglife.com to be a behemoth in the UK as well as being in charge of the Planet Sport network of sites including planetf1.com, football365.com, teamtalk.com and planetrugby.com. Then grew goal.com to be the world's biggest soccer website in 18 languages and 37 territories. Was GM of Portals for Perform Group (now DAZN) with overall responsibility for sportingnews.com, spox.de and voetbalzone.nl.

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