Aston Martin upgrade hits suspension scare in FP1

Aston Martin’s long-awaited AMR26B debut turned into an immediate reliability concern in first practice for the Hungarian Grand Prix when Lance Stroll stopped the session with a rear-left suspension failure after only 11 laps.

The team arrived at the Hungaroring with a heavily revised car and a 16-part upgrade package after a brutal run of form in which it had been several seconds off the pace. Early in the session, there were at least some signs of encouragement. Stroll and Fernando Alonso both went straight into consecutive laps without even needing an installation lap, and for the opening phase Aston Martin looked closer to the midfield than it had in recent events.

That changed with just over 20 minutes remaining. Exiting Turn 2 and heading toward Turn 3, Stroll’s left-rear suspension broke on one of the revised parts, pitching the car into a spin. He kept it out of the barriers and stopped on the run-off, prompting a red flag. Aston Martin later said: “Lance had to stop the car due to a suspected rear left suspension issue.”

The failure immediately clouded what should have been Aston Martin’s clearest read yet on its upgrade package. Alonso was sent back out as soon as the session resumed with about 17 minutes left, but the Spaniard was told to stay off the kerbs and reported vibrations during the session, limiting how much confidence the team could take from the running.

Even so, Alonso’s side of the garage at least offered a more positive reference than Aston Martin had managed in recent races. He finished 13th with a best lap of 1:21.550, 2.475 seconds away from Charles Leclerc’s benchmark, which represented a relative step forward compared with the team’s recent deficits. Stroll, by contrast, ended 21st and 4.396 seconds off the pace after his curtailed run.

That leaves Aston Martin with one encouraging lap-time signal and one serious reliability question from the first outing of its near-new car, with the condition of the revised rear suspension now central to whether the AMR26B can become a genuine reset rather than another setback.