Aston Martin's Stunning Hungary Turnaround
Why it matters: Aston Martin delivered a remarkable comeback at the Hungarian Grand Prix, securing their best qualifying result in nearly two years with Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll starting P5 and P6. This follows their worst performance of the season just a week prior in Belgium.
The big picture: The Belgian GP was an anomaly where Aston Martin's cars were the slowest on track. This coincided with the team reverting to an older-spec floor, a decision made to better handle Spa's unique ride-height demands, particularly at Eau Rouge. However, this strategy mirrored past development dilemmas where the team struggled to find consistent performance by mixing and matching parts.
The details:
- Floor strategy: Despite the Belgian setback, Aston Martin returned to the older Imola-specification floor for Hungary. This time, it proved highly effective.
- Track suitability: The Hungaroring’s characteristics — a high-downforce circuit with an emphasis on medium-speed corners and traction, and an absence of long straights — clearly suit the AMR25.
- New upgrades: A front wing and nose upgrade, trialled in Spa, was specifically designed with high-downforce tracks like Hungary in mind, further contributing to the car's improved performance.
- Qualifying performance: Both Alonso and Stroll were competitive throughout the session. Alonso was even just over a tenth of a second off pole position, with his lap matching Charles Leclerc's until the very final corners. The team also timed their runs perfectly to capitalize on optimal track temperatures and wind conditions.
What they're saying: Fernando Alonso attributes the sudden improvement primarily to the circuit's characteristics. "We didn't change the car massively since Spa, seven days ago. No new parts for anybody to this race. Just the layout, the characteristics of the circuit is just suiting our car apparently," he stated. He emphasized the team's need to understand this "sweet spot" to replicate the performance in future races.
