Alonso finally finds reason for optimism after Aston Martin's Hungary upgrades
Photo: Race Pictures
Updated:
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Tobia is a Formula 1 journalist at GPblog with experience at international circuits. Since 2022, he has covered Grands Prix across Europe, delivering reliable coverage and insights from the paddock.
Fernando Alonso took encouragement from Aston Martin's extensive upgrade package introduced for the Hungarian Grand Prix, although his teammate suffered a suspension issue in FP1 and was unable to take part in the second practice session.
The two-time world champion flirted with the top 10 in the opening session before slipping to 19th in the afternoon, finishing three seconds adrift of pace-setter Lewis Hamilton as Ferrari looked comfortably ahead of the rest of the field.
Aston Martin rolled out one of its biggest upgrade packages of the season for the Hungarian Grand Prix, with sweeping changes made to the AMR26. The update covered almost every major area of the car, including the front wing, floor, diffuser, sidepods, engine cover, cooling layout, rear suspension and rear wing, as the team looks to unlock more performance.
Alonso described the initial feedback from Aston Martin's latest upgrade package as encouraging, revealing the data matched the team's expectations and provided a positive indication for both future developments this season and next year's car. While stressing there is still plenty of ground to make up, he viewed the update as an important first step in the right direction.
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"It felt good. 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 into this year. Still a long way to go for us. Obviously, starting so far behind, but this is the first step, hopefully, of good ones coming."
Photo: Race Pictures
Asked whether the vibration issues that have affected Aston Martin throughout the season were finally behind them, Alonso explained the team experienced them again during FP1 but managed to largely resolve them before FP2, with no concerns heading into Saturday: "Today we had some vibrations on the main straight, especially in FP1. I think the guys fixed it more or less for FP2. There are no concerns for tomorrow."
Alonso believes Aston Martin is no longer carrying a significant deficit through the corners compared to the front of the midfield, although he stressed further analysis is still needed. He feels the team is moving in the right direction, while acknowledging there is still work to do on both the chassis and power unit. Even so, the Spaniard welcomed the fact that the latest upgrade package is delivering the results the team expected, describing it as an encouraging sign for the future.
"We need to study the data a bit more and look at the overlays, but I don't think there are any big surprises or any major deficit in the corners compared to the front of the midfield, which is obviously our first target.
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"I think we're matching that kind of pace through the corners, so we just need to keep working. Obviously, there are still some steps to take on the chassis side and some on the engine side as well. As I said, this is the first of many, but I think there's a positive atmosphere within the team because we're delivering what we expected."
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