Aston Martin tipped for major F1 turnaround as win timeline issued

Former F1 driver David Coulthard has confidently predicted that Aston Martin will be a race-winning outfit in no time, as they attempt to complete a remarkable turnaround.

The Silverstone-based outfit have had a disastrous start to the regulations reset which swept into the sport at the beginning of 2026.

They have only managed to score one point from the opening 11 grands prix of the season, with the team struggling with performance and reliability issues related to both their AMR26 chassis and their new Honda power unit.

Team principal and managing technical partner Adrian Newey is trying to turn their fortunes around, starting by bringing 16 upgrades to their car for the Hungarian Grand Prix last time out.

That did help the team somewhat, with their drivers Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso managing to finish the race up in 13th and 14th respectively after the two-time champion had managed to get his car out of Q1 on Saturday in Hungary for the first time this season.

But that is only the start of the journey that Newey and team owner Lawrence Stroll have embarked on. Stroll has the ambition of the team contending for championships in the near future, highlighted by his signing of Newey, and they believe they can be challenging for podiums and race wins within a couple of years.

McLaren previously evidenced that it can be done. Having started the 2023 season off as one of the slowest teams on the grid, the papaya F1 squad were claiming regular podiums by the end of 2023, before going on to be constructors' champions in 2024 and 2025.

READ MORE: Aston Martin F1 time boost from new Honda upgrade revealed

Will Aston Martin be a race-winning outfit within two years?

Now, Coulthard has suggested Aston Martin are still on course to be winning races in the near future, confidently claiming that they will have a major turnaround across the next couple of years despite having had a 'shocker' of a season.

Coulthard said on the Up to Speed podcast: "I think even Aston themselves would go, you know, ‘We want this season to be erased from the record books!’ And that one point you talk about came courtesy of Fernando Alonso, of course, in Monaco, in a race where there was more penalties than there were drivers.

"So that was a bit of a shocker there, wasn't it? The FIA not quite getting the length of the pit lane correct. You know, something nobody really worked out, or we're basing this on cars driving down this length, and what do drivers do? They take the shortest route possible. So that was a bit of a shocker.

"But yeah, look, Aston, really, really bad. We have to say really, really bad. When you consider, I think, the summary was about a second coming from the engine, a couple of seconds coming from the car."

Coulthard then turned to podcast co-host Jolie Sharpe who he was recording the episode with virtually, giving a stunning prediction.

"Mark my words Jolie, as true as we are not sitting in the same room, they will be the biggest improving team over the next two years, and I will predict they will win grands prix in the next two years," he declared.

READ MORE: Aston Martin F1 chief Adrian Newey sheds light on impact of Fernando Alonso exit

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Sam Cook - Digital Journalist

Sam Cook is a talented young sports journalist and social media professional who now specialises in Formula 1, having previously worked as a football journalist and a local news reporter for a variety of different brands.

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