Another extremely challenging racing weekend is in the books for Aston Martin following the 2026 F1 Belgian GP, with drivers Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso never on par with the rest of the grid throughout the entirety of the event.
The hardships of the driver duo had begun on Saturday already. In fact, not only both sides of the garage failed to set a lap time faster than any other driver, but both of them received grid penalties for taking up additional engine components.
An unfortunate Belgian GP for Stroll and Alonso alike
Stroll took up a fourth seasonal MGU-K, and was awarded a ten-place drop. The Aston Martin driver’s Belgian GP ultimately came to an earlier end than expected, as the Canadian suffered from a technical issue twenty-five laps into the race.
The situation confirmed the reliability issues which have been affecting the Canadian through the 2026 F1 season. Additionally, both him and his teammate remained seconds away from the rest of the grid, only fighting between the two of them for track position.
He admitted that the performance was in line with his expectations for the Spa round: ”Yeah, that’s what we expected.
“We had some energy issues for like 10 laps and then the gearbox was… I was missing some gears, so yeah, we have to look into it,” Stroll added, explaining the situation which led to a premature end of his race.
Asked on the upgrades to be introduced on his AMR26 in Budapest, he was unsure on their potential impact. “We’ll see, we’ll find out next weekend how we go.”
Alonso not pleased with finishing the race
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso as well didn’t have the best 2026 F1 Belgian GP, although he did manage to complete the entire race distance. The two-time World Champion had picked up several new power unit components, tallying up 15 grid penalty places.
The only driver to be lapped twice, Alonso wasn’t the most pleased with his performance, as he recalled his performance after the end of the race.
“Standard, you know, we’ve been for eleven races in the same position, so it was no different this race. Hopefully some data for the team, for the aero guys, for the engine guys.”
The Spaniard was content with the technical performance of his challenger, which he hopes can set a positive baseline in preparation of the significant upgrade package for Hungary.
“Obviously we changed a lot of stuff yesterday night, the battery and some new components. So yeah, hopefully a good test for all these components and ready for the next weekend.”
Anticipating Newey’s contribution
Alonso has a positive feeling about the new installations foreseen for the next round. He is hopeful for a solution to reduce his gap to the other 20 F1 2026 drivers.
“We’ve been struggling, you know, for eleven races now. It’s going to be the first race that we come with an updated package.
“I’m curious to see, you know, maximise FP1, FP2, FP3. It will be crucial for us to understand the direction and the setup on that car and learn as much as we can.”
