Adrian Newey Hints at Strong Progress as New Aston Martin Debuts at Hungarian Grand Prix

Adrian Newey described the new Aston Martin’s debut track appearance as showing “promising results” during the first on-session run at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Fernando Alonso finished the session 13th fastest, trailing Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by 2.475 seconds, though his teammate Lance Stroll suffered a rear suspension failure.

Alonso’s time represents a major improvement over the roughly four-second gap that has typically defined Aston Martin’s pace deficit this season.

Team principal Newey stated: “We are very early in understanding the new package. Provisional results are promising.”

“There are further developments planned for Monza and Baku, marking the first part of our scheduled upgrade package. We are working with a limited number of parts, so we are exercising caution to maximize our learning.”

Power-unit supplier Honda is also providing an upgraded engine for the next race, the Dutch Grand Prix, following Formula 1’s four-week summer pause.

The AMR24 is fundamentally a fresh car, retaining only the front suspension, engine, and gearbox from the previous round in Belgium a week earlier.

Even the chassis has undergone significant redesign, with substantial weight reduction requiring a full re-homologation from the governing body, the FIA.

Stroll’s left-rear suspension failed as he navigated Turn Three with around 20 minutes remaining in the session.

Newey explained in the post-session press conference: “Everyone is working intensely to diagnose the issue, and we will only comment on next steps once we fully understand the root cause.”

“Fortunately, the area affected by the failure is unrelated to our recent modifications, making the incident particularly unexpected.”

Alonso was dispatched onto the track again immediately once the session resumed.

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