Aston Martin makes a drastic decision in the development path for its 2026 car

Although the team failed to score points, it was still a relatively encouraging weekend for Aston Martin in Montreal. Before retiring from the race, Fernando Alonso was running inside the top 10 at one stage — a position the team has rarely occupied in recent races.

However, it may still take some time before Alonso and Lance Stroll can realistically challenge for points regularly. In Canada, it became clear that a heavily revised Aston Martin car is expected to arrive only after the summer break, likely during the Dutch Grand Prix weekend. Rumours even suggest it may not simply be an upgraded version, but an entirely new car. Adrian Newey and his team are reportedly working intensely on the project.

Aston Martin’s choice to wait until after the summer break is understandable. First, the British team wants to solve the fundamental issue with the Honda engine — particularly the severe vibrations. Until then, it is almost pointless to introduce updates, as they are difficult to properly evaluate because of the power unit issues. Moreover, a British pound can only be spent once, so why invest heavily now and risk running out of budget later?

Mike Krack, Aston Martin’s Chief Trackside Officer, was asked in Montreal about plans for a revised car that would arrive only after the summer break. The Luxembourger indicated that improvements are indeed being worked on until then, although they will be very specific. “I think we can still make some steps, you know, in terms of drivability,” said Krack.

“I think it was you or one of your colleagues who asked me what kind of lap time gains we could achieve with that. But I don’t think we’re at the stage where we can say that if we introduce one or two upgrades, everything will suddenly be optimal. So I think there is still a lot of work to be done, and we will continue that over the next weeks and months. We’re not there yet. I don’t think we are at the optimum with everything on the car we have at the moment," he concluded.