Alonso 'at peace' with Aston Martin's 'wait for big gains' upgrade strategy

Fernando Alonso has made it clear that Aston Martin's difficult 2026 campaign will not be saved by chasing tiny gains race after race. The two-time champion fully supports the team's decision to resist small upgrades and instead focus on solving the deeper problems crippling the Honda-powered AMR26.

Why it matters:

Aston Martin's approach reveals the true scale of its deficit. With the next car nearly a second ahead, marginal gains of a tenth or two per race would barely change the team's position. Under the budget cap, wasting resources on ineffective parts would be counterproductive.

The details:

• Alonso explained that bringing one or two tenths every race "doesn't change our position" when the gap to the front is over a second. He said it's better not to press the production button until the team finds a 1.5 to 2 second improvement.
• The team finally eliminated severe engine vibration issues in Miami, but new problems surfaced with the gearbox and electronic shift control. Alonso described downshifts and upshifts as "very weird" and not well controlled.
• Aston Martin is prioritizing stability, clean data collection, and operational consistency before committing to expensive development pushes. Adrian Newey's influence on the car concept is still being understood.
• The demanding stop-start nature of the upcoming Canadian Grand Prix is expected to expose the gearbox weaknesses further. Alonso identified that as "fix number one" for Montreal.

What's next:

The team remains relaxed and committed to a stronger second half of the season after the summer break. For now, the focus is on curing reliability issues and fully unlocking the package's potential before chasing raw performance gains.