Aston Martin’s recent runs in Formula 1 have turned into a tiring, downbeat loop. The Fernando Alonso team’s stuck at the back of the grid because they have decided not to introduce any upgrades yet, but will instead roll out a massive package of improvements all at once.
It seems Spa-Francorchamps could be the circuit chosen by Adrian Newey for us to see the AMR26’s B version. However, journalist Ted Kravitz warns: nothing will change until Honda improves its engine. And Fernando Alonso himself included Spa on the list of circuits where you shouldn’t expect too much.
According to Alonso, Spa will be as bad as the rest of the circuits
There is some hope among Spanish fans that the next race, Silverstone, will be the last one in which Fernando Alonso has to endure the rear end of the standings. Aston Martin has planned a major chassis overhaul for the Belgian Grand Prix, but there’s a big problem: Honda.
The Sky Sports reporter Ted Kravitz already warns that when the upgrades arrive “Aston Martin could have the best chassis on the grid, but with the Honda engine that would be irrelevant”. Kravitz confirms it will be a B-car, and furthermore bets that the updates will indeed arrive in Spa.
Adrian Newey decided to incorporate all the novelties at once, even sacrificing a few races to reduce the impact of the changes on the budget cap. The problem is that now it seems Aston Martin and Honda are not synchronized, so the upgrades will not arrive at the same time.
In fact, Honda wanted to put its new engine in Zandvoort after the summer, and they moved it up to Hungary at Newey’s request, in order to start handling some data during the holidays. But Koji Watanabe, CEO of HRC, already warned that no one should get too excited about the new engine.
After finishing last and being lapped three times in Austria, Alonso himself already said that “Silverstone and Spa will be the same as this race”. A troubling phrase because it hints that, indeed, the B-car Newey will bring to Aston Martin in Belgium will be useless without an engine to accompany it.
And all this while Alonso weighs up whether to stay with Aston Martin or end his Formula 1 career more fittingly with Alpine.
Images | Aston Martin
