Team ambassador Pedro de la Rosa opened up about how a severe understeer problem had taken Aston Martin by surprise during the race weekend and whether they expect to encounter such balance issues in the coming rounds following their first points finish of the 2026 F1 season at the Monaco GP on Sunday.
After Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll found themselves occupying the last row in qualifying, the Silverstone-based outfit also experienced mixed fortunes in the race.
While the Canadian driver crashed on Lap 60 due to a suspected engine braking malfunction, the two-time world champion managed to finish in tenth place after several drivers ahead incurred post-race penalties.
De la Rosa sheds more light on Aston Martin’s understeer headache at 2026 Monaco GP
Speaking in a print media session after the F1 race, Pedro de la Rosa reflected on the shortcomings of Aston Martin’s 2026 challenger that had become even more apparent during the Monaco GP weekend.
Admitting how their expectations didn’t match the reality, the former F1 driver revealed that they had encountered debilitating mid-corner understeer in the low speed, which is characteristic of the twisty Circuit de Monaco. Additionally, he explained that a basic set-up change couldn’t remedy the issue, despite the aerodynamic and mechanical tweaks the car had undergone.
The Spaniard also highlighted how unresponsive the AMR26 was to the drivers’ inputs and stated that the car refusing to turn led to them bleeding considerable lap time in the low-speed corners during the race.
“We were expecting to be a bit better here, but we found a very, very severe mid-corner understeer in the low speed, which the team has tried to cure, making all possible changes on set-up.
“But it is something more fundamental than the set-up change. We didn’t experience this understeer as bad as it has been here in any other race. So, that has caught us out.
“The team has done a great job just changing up and down on set-up, everything you can think about mechanically and aerodynamically, but it hasn’t been enough.
“The car has remained very difficult, very difficult to really change the direction in the car and also make it point in the right direction in the low speed. That’s where we’ve been losing most of our time here in Monaco. Still during the race, both drivers complained about understeer, mid-corner, and that’s where we are at the moment.”
If the problem might reappear in Barcelona
In terms of whether the understeer problem—which had intensified in Monaco in comparison to the previous rounds—would inconvenience Aston Martin again at the upcoming Barcelona-Catalunya GP, Pedro de la Rosa didn’t have a definitive answer.
“What are we going to find in the next race? We don’t know, because it’s not something that we had felt this bad in the previous races.”
Aston Martin ambassador hopeful that severe understeer was specific to Monaco
Asked if he believes that the understeer issue is unlikely to come up again given that none of the other tracks on the 2026 F1 calendar are as extreme as Monaco, Pedro de la Rosa appeared cautiously optimistic after Aston Martin managed to score a single point in Sunday’s GP.
Although he conceded that the understeer challenge could manifest itself in the remaining rounds, de la Rosa remained hopeful that this was something isolated to Monte Carlo’s unique traits. Moreover, he expressed confidence that the British team would have the adequate data and tools required to resolve the problem in case it materialised once again in the future.
The 55-year-old also underlined how multiple teams on the grid, including them, had struggled to get the soft tyres into the optimal working window in Monaco and reiterated that he doesn’t expect to come across similar balance issues in the next several race weekends.
“It’s difficult to say right now. But it’s something that, as we haven’t seen in circuits that are very different to Monaco, we remain confident that [it won’t return].
“We should, first of all, analyse all the data, the amount of data that we have from this race, and if we find again this problem, then we’ll have more tools actually to work on them.
“But I would be surprised if we find this level of understeer, chronic mid-corner understeer in any other track, because there are no tracks like Monaco.
“Also, this year the soft tyre has been even pretty hard for this circuit, and a lot of teams, including us, had to work very hard on the front tyres, the soft front tyres, really to get them up to temperature.
“So, I would be surprised if we find these balance issues in the next few races.”
