Alonso finds his smile again: Aston Martin passes Q1 for the first time in 2026
Fernando Alonso sees the classic light at the end of the tunnel. After a terrible start to the season, the improvements brought to Hungary by Aston Martin allowed the Spaniard to “have a car“. And if Alonso has a car, he pushes it to the limit. Thanks to the two-time world champion, Lawrence Stroll’s team passes Q1 for the first time this season.
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More than on the 16th position, Alonso wanted to focus on the progress made by the AMR26 after the important technical innovations introduced at the Hungaroring. The aerodynamic updates and modifications made to the single-seater have restored positive sensations behind the wheel, allowing the Spanish driver to rediscover a feeling that had been missing in several weekends of 2026. And suddenly, those statements that hinted at retirement (“I miss the adrenaline“) are much further away.
Alonso’s words after Qualifying
“It was certainly a different weekend, a different qualifying session where we felt we could fight a bit more and influence the final result with a perfect lap or a perfect setup,” was Alonso’s immediate comment to DAZN. “Racing at the back, we missed that adrenaline you feel when you close your visor. It was nice to get back to that feeling, hopefully there will be better ones in the next races.”
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“I think the points are still a bit out of reach, but I believe there is still more potential to unlock in the car. Tomorrow will be the first time we do more than six or seven laps with this package: it will therefore also be a good test for reliability.”
At Aston Martin, finally, optimism prevails. Alonso is convinced that the update package represents a true starting point for the team’s relaunch and believes that, once the full potential of the new configuration is understood, results will come. Budapest could thus become the first step in a technical turning point that will also have Zandvoort as a fundamental stage: engine updates will also arrive in the Netherlands for the Honda engine.
