Racing
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Lance Stroll says Aston Martin will bring its biggest update package of 2026 to the Hungarian Grand Prix, and that the chassis-sensitive Hungaroring will show whether the team can rescue an AMR26 he says has “no strengths” before Honda’s engine upgrade arrives at Zandvoort.
Stroll described the Hungary package as so extensive that it is “practically a B car,” with a lighter chassis and a new gearbox both resubmitted to FIA homologation tests. The power-unit update is on a separate timeline, with Honda due to introduce it only at the Dutch Grand Prix after the mid-season break.
That split matters because Stroll does not see Aston Martin’s problems as a single issue. He said the team is short on pure power, but also carrying long-standing balance, drivability and downforce weaknesses that an engine step alone cannot cover up. “I think they are two different issues,” he said. “We have a lot of things to work on in terms of drivability. We are lacking power, but we also have a lot of balance problems, limitations and simply downforce. We need to find a lot more downforce.”
His verdict on the current car was blunt. Stroll, the Aston Martin driver, said: “At this moment, yes, it has been really terrible. There is nothing good, there is nothing we like about our car, there are no strengths, so we can only improve.”
He said the AMR26 is unstable on corner entry and under braking in medium- and low-speed sections, then loses aerodynamic support in high-speed turns. Stroll described a stall-like effect in which the car suddenly sheds front load and grip. He added that some of those aero losses are difficult for the engineers to trace from pressure-sensor data alone, leaving him trying to give the Silverstone factory a clearer picture of what the drivers are actually feeling.
The Hungary package is aimed at both sides of that problem. Stroll said Aston Martin expects more downforce, but also wants to fix the bad aerodynamic traits that have been in the car for a long time and produce something more balanced and more driveable.
The pressure around Budapest has been heightened by Aston Martin’s collapse at Spa, where the team ended qualifying penultimate and last and was described as the slowest car on the grid since Monaco. Mike Krack said Belgium would be the last race for the AMR26 in its original specification, with the focus then shifting to the revised car in Hungary.
That makes Hungaroring the first real read on whether Aston Martin’s reset is working. Stroll called it “a good test” because it is “not a circuit very sensitive to power” and instead “a chassis circuit.” If Aston Martin is still “very slow” there, he said, the extra power due in the Netherlands will not solve all of its problems. If the car is “much more competitive” in Hungary, it would be a good sign for the rest of the season.