Fernando Alonso won’t be so happy about Aston Martin upgrade when he sees how much it cost

Follow us on Google Discover

Even with a season-best performance at qualifying for Fernando Alonso, the veteran Spaniard will be questioning just what it cost to get Aston Martin to get there.

From the first time we saw it on the track, the new Aston Martin upgrades to the AMR26 looked good, as Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll were given an almost brand-new car.

And with Alonso managing to participate in Q2 for the first time this season, it showed that Adrian Newey’s hard work had paid off.

Even with Stroll’s suspension issues, Aston Martin have cause to celebrate, as they finally managed to turn a corner this season.

But Alonso might want to temper his optimism, especially as he learns just what the team had to give up to try and get the AMR26 to this level.

READ MORE: Honda confident ‘corrective measures’ dispel Fernando Alonso’s complaints after new issue in Hungary

Aston Martin spent ‘a lot of money’ from their budget to improve AMR26

Speaking on Nailing The Apex, Tim Hauraney shared what he had been told about the recent improvement from Aston Martin.

He noted that there is unlikely to be more large-scale upgrades made to the AMR26, as the team used a large portion of their budget to improve the car.

“Just some things I’ve been hearing that I want to talk about. Let’s go to the Aston Martins. They brought a huge update to the car. It just looks totally different. No question about it. Just a vast amount of updates for this Aston Martin; it is a totally different car.

“They are going to be bringing a little more components to it as the season moves along, but in terms of big updates for this car, this is pretty much it. It is a huge spend on this car.

“They spent a lot of money to get this thing where it is now. They gained maybe about a second and a half.

“They definitely gave it to the Williams today for sure; they’re faster than Cadillac now. When they get a new power unit, we’ll see if that takes them up another step…”

Fans will remember that Aston Martin were given £14 million in financial assistance earlier this year, and it appears they have spent a significant portion of this amount to implement these upgrades.

READ MORE: Martin Brundle ‘more concerned’ by what Fernando Alonso did than Lance Stroll’s suspension failure

The Hungarian GP grid after Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Antonelli’s penalties – Who will gain the most positions?

Comment

Like or Comment

Have your say Sign-in now for free

Aston Martin drivers must be careful for the remainder of 2026

Speaking further on the podcast, Hauraney revealed that Aston Martin have almost no spare parts available to them, and will only be able to marginally replenish their spare reserves over the summer.

“A totally new car for Aston Martin. Fernando was pretty handy in it, P16 for him. The issue is not a lot of spares. This team does not have a lot of spares for this car.

“With the suspension failed on Lance, he did well to keep it out of the barriers because going off the track saved the car from being put into the wall. If it had been put into the wall, then that may have been his weekend over. Not a lot of spares for them.

“Tricky for Aston Martin, they’ll have to thread the needle. They will have a few more spares when they get to the Dutch Grand Prix, but they did want to fast-track this thing and try and get it into the car as quickly as possible.”

Adrian Newey rushing Aston Martin’s upgrades could prove costly, as the drivers will be trying to push the car to get the most out of it going forward.

Doing this could lead to crashes and collisions, for which Aston Martin do not have the spare parts to repair, or at least not enough.

Both Alonso and Stroll must be very careful for the remaining races, as they cannot afford to let their cars sustain too much damage.