Honda’s new creation hit the track at the Hungaroring following the Hungarian Grand Prix. This is a major boost for Aston Martin, as the team and Honda got a crucial chance to work with the new package before the engine’s competitive debut.
As advertised, Aston Martin arrived in Hungary with a heavily-upgraded AMR26 chassis. It was a 16-part upgrade in total.
After falling to the unwanted role of comfortably slowest in F1 2026, the new-look AMR26 made a very positive impression at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Fernando Alonso drove the car into Q2, while come Grand Prix Sunday, Lance Stroll secured a P13 result, with Alonso 14th.
Aston Martin inserted itself into the fight with Alpine, Haas and Williams.
The next step in this recovery mission is just around the corner.
Honda trackside general manager and chief engineer Shintaro Orihara has now confirmed this.
“It is a good opportunity to check the new power unit in the new chassis, by using the filming day,” Orihara told PlanetF1.com and others in Budapest.
“200 kilometres. That is a good opportunity to check how the new engine works in the chassis.”
The upgraded engine will make its first competitive appearance at the Dutch Grand Prix, the first round after the summer shutdown.
In addition to the Hungaroring filming day, Aston Martin will also take part in a Pirelli tyre test.
‘Following the Hungarian Grand Prix, Pirelli will remain in Budapest with Aston Martin, Audi and Alpine for two days of testing, on Tuesday and Wednesday, to develop next season’s tyres,’ Pirelli confirmed.
The busy schedule continues for Aston Martin. Adrian Newey, the team boss and design guru, confirmed that further updates to the AMR26 chassis are on the horizon.
“It’s only part of the package. We will have some more steps in Zandvoort, Monza and Baku, so it is the first part of our planned upgrade,” Newey confirmed.
The correlation between virtual and real world aligned for stage one of the AMR26 development. This suggests that, going forward, Aston Martin can have confidence that future developments will yield the expected performance; not only for F1 2026 but into next year, too.
