Hungarian Grand Prix: Fernando Alonso optimistic about Aston Martin’s major upgrade

The last two circuits, Silverstone and Spa, have been particularly difficult for them because of the lack of performance of their Honda engine.

But even at the Spanish Grand Prix last month, a more corner-dependent track, they were four seconds off pole position, and more than three seconds off the Racing Bulls and Audi teams at the front of the midfield.

That is partly why Alonso is resisting the temptation to give any kind of judgement on where the term might end up this weekend.

“I am not thinking on numbers or positions,” he said. “In the last five races we have very different gaps to the midfield.

“The other teams opted for a more conventional upgrade path, bringing 0.1-0.2secs every few races and then you end up with a second in race 12.

“We didn’t do that and we try to catch up all in one go. It doesn’t change your natural position in the end.”

The Honda engine is not changing this weekend – the Japanese company is taking a development engine to the next race, the Dutch Grand Prix, after Formula 1’s four-week summer break.

Aston Martin chief technical officer Adrian Newey said at the British Grand Prix earlier this month: “It became quite obvious very quickly that we were not going to be competitive in the early races.

“So, we took the painful but I believe correct decision to not do any developments through the first half of the year, knowing that that would actually mean, as everybody else develops, of course, the gap to the front would actually get bigger.

“But, with a view to then really getting ourselves better organised, putting lots of different systems into place for the future, and then really doing our research properly, because the ’26-car was a very competitive timescale.

“So, it’s enabled us to step back a bit, take a bit of pressure off ourselves, because I think we actually put ourselves under too much pressure over the winter, and take a deep breath, and really understand our problems, what we need to achieve, (with) this upgrade package that we go to Hungary as the first stage, the second stage in Zandvoort.”