At Aston Martin, optimism is in the air after the substantial improvement the AMR26 demonstrated in Hungary. The green cars moved into the midfield, and further upgrades are on the way, including an engine upgrade from Honda for Zandvoort. It is essential that it works so that Fernando Alonso does not worsen his worst year in Formula 1.
After the first eleven races, Alonso has collected only one point, the one that fell from the sky in Monaco after Sergio Pérez’s penalty and a series of incidents. Even in his years with McLaren-Honda, Alonso accumulated more points. And even in his Minardi debut, he is on track to outrun the 2026 numbers.
Alonso has only one point after eleven races
Despite the hopeful green shoots at Hungaroring, the overall balance of the first half of the season for Aston Martin and Fernando Alonso remains painful. They have only managed to score points in Monaco, thanks to the race turning into chaos and Alonso using his experience to claw a tenth-place.
That single point is what prevents 2026 from being Alonso’s worst season in Formula 1, at least so far. Because this year can only be compared with Alonso’s debut season in F1, that distant 2001 with Minardi. That year the Asturian did not finish inside the top ten in any of the first eleven races, but he did in the twelfth.
Alonso finished tenth at the German Grand Prix, at Hockenheim, the twelfth race of the 2001 season. At that time only the top six scored points, so Alonso did not collect any points. But on the balance of results, it means that if Alonso does not finish within the top eleven in Zandvoort after the summer break, 2026 will be his worst start in Formula 1.
The second-best result for Alonso in 2026 to date is precisely the fourteenth place in Hungary, while in 2001 he was already twelfth on his debut in Australia, and logged some thirteenth-place finishes. The McLaren-Honda era was never this bad: even in its worst year, 2017, Alonso finished ninth in Baku and sixth in Hungaroring.
For Zandvoort, a significant engine upgrade from Honda is anticipated, coupled with minor tweaks from Adrian Newey to refine the AMR26’s chassis and aerodynamics. At Hungaroring, Aston Martin looked like the seventh team, behind the four giants, Audi, and Racing Bulls, and on par with Alpine.
Fernando Alonso will need a little more in Zandvoort to prevent 2026 from being the worst start of a year in his 23 seasons in Formula 1.
Images | Aston Martin
