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

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Aston Martin have revealed 16 upgrades for the AMR26 at the 2026 Hungarian Grand Prix, but FP1 was a troubled affair after Lance Stroll’s rear suspension suddenly broke.

Design legend Adrian Newey has finally put his months of work on track this weekend at the Hungaroring, as Aston Martin look to finally turn around their miserable start to the 2026 F1 regulations. Only Cadillac are below Aston Martin in the constructors’ table after 10 rounds.

Aston Martin also had the slowest car in the entire field at each of the past five rounds, with Fernando Alonso and Stroll never qualifying higher than 21st in Monaco, Barcelona, Austria, Britain and Belgium. So, Aston Martin have thrown a whopping 16 upgrades at the AMR26.

Fernando Alonso’s lack of pace ‘concerned’ Martin Brundle more than Lance Stroll’s suspension failure

Aston Martin have rushed through their B-spec car for the Hungarian GP, as the team aim to start their turnaround before Honda provide their upgraded engine after the summer break. The Silverstone natives have completely overhauled the AMR26, with a total of 16 upgrades.

READ MORE: How to watch the 2026 F1 Hungarian Grand Prix, plus the weather forecast

Newey and his team of designers have changed the Aston Martin AMR26’s front wing, nose, floor, diffuser, sidepods, rear suspension, cooling vents and rear wing. But more work might be needed, as Stroll suffered a suspected rear suspension failure in FP1 at the Hungarian GP.

The left-rear suspension on Stroll’s Aston Martin suddenly broke as he exited Turn 2 with 23 minutes still on the clock in FP1. But Martin Brundle would be “more concerned” if he were Aston Martin that Alonso was still 2.475s off the pace, despite using the soft Pirelli C5 tyres.

“It is a great concern, and that could have happened in a far more difficult place than that,” Brundle told Sky Sports F1 (24/07, 13:53) about Stroll’s failure. “It’s not very heavily loaded coming out of Turn 2, you’d have to say, a car in general. So, [it was] a bit of a surprise.

“And then you’ve also got to worry, ‘Well, what about the other car?’, if it’s got exactly the same pieces on it. Is it a material issue? Is it a fabrication issue? What is it?

“I would have thought that it is a suspension failure, judging by all of the dramas and the way that the wheel was sort of still hanging on.

“If the wheel was loose, you’d think it might come off eventually. But they sent Fernando out, so they weren’t too concerned about it. I’d be more concerned that Fernando did a time on softs, but it was still 3% slower than the fastest time. They need to close that gap.”

Charles Leclerc tops FP1 at the Hungarian Grand Prix by 0.484s! ⏱️ Go early, predict the pole margin!

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Stroll was helpless to avoid a spin when the left-rear suspension on his Aston Martin AMR26 snapped. The Canadian caught the spin to avoid a much bigger crash, but he could not keep running as his opening practice session at the Hungarian GP came to an early end on Friday.

The failure also helped to ensure that Stroll could only finish FP1 at the Hungarian GP in P21, with Williams’ Carlos Sainz the only driver slower than the Aston Martin ace after having his own problems under braking. Alonso ended FP1 at the Hungarian GP in P13 with a 1:21.550.

Charles Leclerc of Ferrari set the pace in FP1 with a 1:19.075, a whopping 0.484s faster than Red Bull racer Max Verstappen managed for P2. The Monegasque set his fastest lap with the soft C5 tyres like Alonso used on his lap, while Stroll set his best lap with the medium C4s.