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Fernando Alonso believes Aston Martin’s major upgrade package transformed the team’s qualifying experience at the Hungarian Grand Prix, giving him a genuine opportunity to fight for a stronger grid position.
After struggling to escape the final row in recent events, Alonso progressed to Q2 for the first time in 2026 and secured 16th on the grid. For Aston Martin, the result was an early indication that its decision to delay a major development package had begun to deliver a change in competitiveness.
The overhaul introduced at the Hungaroring included 16 updates, with revisions to the front wing, floor, diffuser and rear suspension. Honda is also expected to bring engine upgrades to the Dutch Grand Prix. The scale of the intervention underlines the team’s decision to pursue a substantial step rather than introduce smaller changes across several weekends.
The broader significance of the package was already being examined in Aston Martin’s AMR26 Hungary upgrade marks start of long-term recovery, but Alonso’s first qualifying response provided the clearest track-level evidence yet that the car had moved forward.
Alonso said the updated car gave him more influence over the outcome, provided he delivered the lap and set-up required.
“It was a different weekend, different Qualifying,” Alonso said. “We felt that we could fight a little bit more and we could influence the final result of Qualifying if we made a perfect lap or a perfect set-up.”
The Spaniard described the return of that competitive pressure as an important change after several difficult weekends.
“That adrenaline when you close the visor and you go into the lap, it was missed in the last few events – we were on the last row of the grid, whatever we were doing on the car,” he added. “It was nice to go back to that feeling, and hopefully more to come in the next few races.”
Alonso has already scored Aston Martin’s first point of the season after being promoted to 10th in Monaco. However, the Hungarian Grand Prix represented the first real test of the revised package over a longer distance.
He remained cautious about the team’s points prospects, saying they were still “a little bit out of reach”. Reliability and other aspects of the car would also face a more meaningful test, as Aston Martin prepared to complete more than the six or seven laps previously covered on the upgrade.
For now, Q2 is a modest result by Alonso’s standards. Within Aston Martin’s difficult season, though, it is a meaningful sign that the team’s development direction may finally be producing a car the two-time World Champion can actively work with.
He’s a software engineer with a deep passion for Formula 1 and motorsport. He co-founded Formula Live Pulse to make live telemetry and race insights accessible, visual, and easy to follow.