Aston Martin abandons the AMR26: all-new car on the way

After being asked yet again how bad Aston Martin’s car is, Alonso seemed to have had enough last weekend. “We knew that we have the worst car and the worst engine. And we've been very clear in every race so far that we have to work,” the Spaniard told among others to GPblog.

While Alonso showed his irritation in Barcelona, Adrian Newey will have once again pored over his large drawing board in Silverstone. For months, the former Red Bull Racing designer has been quietly working on a better version of the AMR26, which is likely to appear on track right after the summer break.

GPblog understands that it’s a B-spec, effectively a completely new car that is, in principle, set to see the light of day at Zandvoort. Will it deliver what’s hoped for? That remains to be seen. The fact is that the first AMR26 is the first car on which the usually rightly praised Newey has taken a wrong turn. Now the lauded designer has the chance to set things right. If anyone can, it should be Newey.

Until then, Aston Martin is trying to make the best of it. More than trailing at the back doesn’t seem possible, not least due to the many reliability problems plaguing Aston Martin and power unit supplier Honda. “Well, you always learn new things, as crazy as it might sound, you know, when you are between three and four seconds off, you are thinking you are driving in a different category yet, actually, but still you learn a lot,” said Chief Trackside Officer Mike Krack to, among others, GPblog.

“I think we learned a great deal how we have to adjust our processes to get the maximum out of it. So, there are some small positives, it is difficult to see them. The single pit stop that we did was very good, in my opinion. And we have to work with these and try to improve in all other areas,” Krack concluded.