Adrian Newey promises Aston Martin improvements at next F1 race with crucial upgrades

Adrian Newey has claimed there is more to come from Aston Martin despite a poor weekend at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Aston Martin entered the weekend hoping that their new, upgraded car could possibly be in contention for points, but the team never showed that pace before bad luck struck on race day.

Lance Stroll retired from the race after just 14 laps after running through debris and picking up a brake issue that forced him to pull off the circuit.

Team-mate Fernando Alonso meanwhile finished 17th - but not before an incident with Carlos Sainz forced him to put for a new nose to eventually finish two laps down on race winner Kimi Antonelli.

After a tough Italian Grand Prix where neither car failed to finish the race, optimism has dipped at the Silverstone team since Alonso took their season-best ninth-place finish at the Dutch Grand Prix.

F1 HEADLINES: Hamilton concedes title as Sky Sports blame F1 driver for Madrid mess

Aston Martin AMR26 sheds weight for Baku

Newey though confirmed that an improved package would be brought to the next race for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in two weeks, with weight reductions set to complete the final spec of the 2026 car in what has been a terrible season for the team who have just three points and sit bottom of the constructors' championship.

Newey said post race at the Madring track: “A disappointing afternoon for us in Madrid. With Lance retiring early with damage and Fernando also suffering damage after contact with Carlos Sainz, we could not show our true pace.

"Fernando drove a solid race in front of the Spanish fans which helped to gather useful data on this new car for us to analyse. We now focus on Baku where we will bring further weight saving measures and continue to optimise the package.”

Alonso weighs up F1 future

The news of an improved package could not come soon enough for Alonso, whose future in F1 has been subject of much speculation recently.

The 45-year-old toyed with the F1 media all weekend, saying it was 'nice' to keep things quiet, before claiming on Sunday evening that he could in fact commit to a multi-year deal in F1 to keep him racing until 2028.

He said: "Renew. I have to decide it.

"And if I renew, I won't do it for just one year anyway, and I'll keep going for many more. I'll stop when I feel slower than the others. That moment hasn't arrived yet.

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