Why Aston Martin hasn’t updated its F1 car since March

Aston Martin hasn’t officially upgraded its Formula 1 car in the last two months, and likely won’t do so until July at the earliest.

The Adrian Newey-designed AMR26, which is Aston’s first Honda-powered car, has been lacking performance and fighting newcomer Cadillac at the back of the field. With reliability trouble compounding the issues – though the situation has been improving – Fernando Alonso has spearheaded the team’s effort with a highest result of 16th in sprint qualifying at the Canadian Grand Prix and 15th under the chequered flag in both Miami races.

Alonso revealed after the Floridan round that Aston wasn’t going to introduce any upgrades until the summer, due to the outfit’s deficit to its rivals.

This has been confirmed by other team members in Montreal where, for the second time in a row, the AMR26 wasn’t updated – it is the only unchanged car relative to the Japanese GP specifications from March.

“There are modifications on the car, but there is not this kind of modifications that you expect from a big list of upgrades that are being disclosed on Friday morning. These parts will come around the summer,” chief trackside officer Mike Krack said. “So, for the moment, it is detailed changes in several areas that are not so visible, but that will help us to improve.”

“We have an upgrade for Spa or the one after Spa, I don’t know which one, Zandvoort?” Lance Stroll added, with this tentative window ranging from the Belgian GP on 16-19 July to the Dutch GP on 20-23 August, with Hungary in between.

“Is it going to be enough to fight for the front? No. But these things don’t happen overnight. Everyone’s pushing as hard as possible and we’re doing everything we can to bring as much lap time to the car as quickly as we can.”

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images

In the meantime, Alonso has made it clear that “frustration” needed to be managed within the squad; as far as he’s concerned, the two-time F1 world champion is “at peace” with the decision.

“I'm at peace because I understand the situation,” he said after the Miami race. “The team explained to me that we are P20 or P19 and the next car is one second in front, so even if we bring two tenths every race, it doesn't change our position – and it's a huge stress in the system, in the budget cap and things like that.

“So, until we have a 1.5s or two-second improvement, it's better not to press the button in production, because we waste money.”

Even without official upgrades, sprint qualifying marked clear progress in Montreal, with Alonso up to 14th in SQ1 – ahead of Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto, Haas’ Oliver Bearman and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly.

Additional reporting by Stuart Codling and Ronald Vording