Aston Martin’s encouraging form at the Hungarian Grand Prix raised eyebrows throughout the paddock, sparking speculation about what lay behind the unexpected performance of the AMR25. According to Spanish driver Fernando Alonso, the car’s strong pace was primarily due to the characteristics of the Hungaroring circuit, which suited the AMR25’s inherent design. However, the vehicle also appears to have benefited from recent upgrades introduced in previous Formula 1 rounds: namely, a new floor debuted at the Silverstone Grand Prix, and a revised nose and front wing configuration tested at Spa-Francorchamps—although those components were originally conceived with tighter, slower-speed circuits like Hungary in mind.
The Hungarian Grand Prix offered a clear sign of revival for Aston Martin. For the first time since the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix at Imola back in May, both AMR25 cars reached Q3 in qualifying. That in itself was a noteworthy achievement. Fernando Alonso qualified in fifth position, while his Canadian teammate Lance Stroll secured sixth—an impressive turnaround considering both cars had been among the slowest in qualifying just one week earlier at Spa-Francorchamps.
It was particularly surprising to see the Aston Martins lapping within just over one-tenth of a second from the pole position claimed by Charles Leclerc. This sudden improvement over such a short span of time led to wild speculation, with some suggesting that Red Bull’s chief technical officer Adrian Newey had played a role in the transformation. However, these claims are completely unfounded—Adrian Newey remains focused solely on the 2026 car project and is not involved with Aston Martin’s current developments.
Despite continuing to suffer from significant back pain sustained during the Belgian Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso delivered an outstanding lap in qualifying—reminiscent of his finest performances from earlier in his career. Lance Stroll closely matched his teammate’s performance, delivering a similarly strong lap. The question remains: what explains this seemingly dramatic step forward?
According to Fernando Alonso, the improvement was largely circuit-dependent. “To be honest, I would say it’s just down to the characteristics of the track,” explained the two-time Formula 1 World Champion. “We didn’t change much on the car compared to Spa. I believe the nature of this circuit suits our car better. It would be helpful to understand why the car is working so well here, because if we figure that out, we could exploit it better in future races.”
The AMR25 has struggled throughout the season with a chronic lack of top speed and a narrow operational window for tyre performance. In particular, the car often overheats its rear tyres, compromising race pace and consistency. The updated floor introduced at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone was intended to address these shortcomings. Hungary appears to have provided the first real signs that those updates are beginning to deliver the desired effect.
It is worth remembering that the AMR25 was developed with a strong aerodynamic emphasis on slow-speed corners, marking a clear shift from the 2023 car philosophy. Last year’s car was designed with a preference for high-speed corners, which ultimately proved problematic. This season’s machine, in contrast, was specifically developed to thrive in twistier sections of circuits.
At Spa-Francorchamps, Aston Martin introduced a new front wing along with a revised nose concept. Unlike the previous design, the nose was no longer mounted on the main plane but rather on the secondary element of the wing. This altered the flow of air directed underneath the car, improving airflow to the floor—a vital area for generating downforce. These new aerodynamic components were not expected to offer a competitive advantage on a high-speed circuit like Spa but were intended for use at more technical venues, such as the Hungaroring.
Another critical factor is the development environment of the AMR25. The car was originally designed using Mercedes’ wind tunnel facility in Brackley, before the model was moved to Aston Martin’s state-of-the-art Silverstone campus. In fact, it is no secret that the 2025 Aston Martin chassis was used to help calibrate the new wind tunnel, since Andy Cowell, the team’s CEO, was unwilling to run the 2026 car model at Mercedes’ facility.
In many ways, Aston Martin is still grappling with a car that was born with structural limitations. Most of the original technical personnel responsible for designing the AMR25 have since left the team, which has further complicated the development path. At one point, the team principal Mike Krack had indicated an intention to adopt Mercedes’ new rear suspension concept. However, with Mercedes itself deciding not to proceed with the update, Aston Martin—being a customer team—seems unlikely to invest in an expensive upgrade with uncertain performance gains.
The front wing first tested at Spa-Francorchamps and brought to Hungary received further updates, including a final flap with significantly higher downforce. The rear wing used during the weekend was the same high-downforce version seen earlier in the season at the Monaco Grand Prix. Thanks to these combined efforts, the technical team led by Mike Krack succeeded in optimizing the AMR25’s behaviour, finally enabling the team to deliver a strong weekend performance.
Looking ahead to the race, Fernando Alonso remained cautiously optimistic. “I think the race will be difficult,” he admitted. “It would be great to finish the Grand Prix in the same positions we start. A fifth and sixth place finish would be an excellent result for the team before the summer break. But we have to be alert to threats coming from behind—Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton could still catch up.”
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