Fernando Alonso drives the Aston Martin AMR26The Aston Martin AMR26 upgrade package in Hungary put the team back on a par with the leading outfits in terms of performance gained across the F1 2026 season. That was the discovery revealed by former long-serving Ferrari engineer Rob Smedley, who crunched the numbers on the B-spec AMR26. An interesting comparison from Smedley was that of the data of Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz, the latter having claimed that Aston Martin now has the best midfield chassis. That theory was rejected by Aston Martin’s Mike Krack. Rob Smedley presents data on B-spec Aston Martin AMR26 Aston Martin’s revamped AMR26, with its 16 updates, hit the track at the Hungarian Grand Prix and yielded positive results. Alonso made it into Q2, while come Sunday, Lance Stroll secured a P13 finish, one place up the road from Alonso. Aston Martin leapfrogged Cadillac and seemingly also Williams with its package. That led to Sainz claiming, in a rallying call to his Williams team, that Aston Martin now had the best chassis in the midfield. “I don’t think so,” was the to-the-point response from Aston Martin’s chief trackside officer Mike Krack, when Sainz’s claim was put to him by PlanetF1.com and other media outlets. The data of Sainz and Alonso from Hungary made for interesting viewing, as Smedley, via the High Performance Racing podcast, presented what was billed as his ‘exclusive data’ on the Aston Martin upgrade. Smedley, best known for his stints with Ferrari and Williams, also has contacts within Aston Martin having started his career with the then-Jordan team. Smedley analysed two exclusive data charts. First was a speed trace comparison between Alonso and Sainz. “In the minimum corner speeds, Alonso is much quicker everywhere,” Smedley states. Smedley talks of “much more downforce” on Alonso’s car compared to Sainz’s Williams: “It’s just a more stable and a better-performing car.” Where Alonso suffered at the Hungaroring, in comparison to Sainz, was down the straights. “But you can see that with the Mercedes engine, the difference between the two engines, and probably the drag between the two cars as well, he [Alonso] gets killed on all the straights,” said Smedley. “In all of the straights, Sainz is up to 10 km/h faster, which is pretty impressive. So he [Sainz] goes through the corners slower, but he [Alonso] loses a lot of time, compared to the Williams, with the engine and drag of that car.” Honda will look to provide Aston Martin with a boost when its new engine hits the track competitively at the Dutch Grand Prix. The B-spec AMR26 and updated Honda engine combined for the first time in a filming day following the Hungarian Grand Prix. Honda shall strive to build on a positive first step with the upgraded AMR26. Smedley’s second chart shed further light on how Aston Martin’s rate of development compared with the leading teams. Aston Martin took a different approach by holding out for this major package, while other teams introduced updates in stages through the first half of F1 2026. Smedley analysed a chart which showed the delta between pole position and Aston Martin in qualifying, race by race. “If you take the races up to Spain, but not including Spain, that deficit is 4.1 per cent,” Smedley states. “We use per cent because the physical lap time is different from circuit to circuit, so you use per cent because it’s more consistent. “From Spain onwards, the top teams bring new packages, that’s much closer to five per cent slower. “But then, in Budapest, they were back to being 3.9 per cent. “So they’ve made relative time up to everybody. And this is really interesting, because for the first part of the season, they were 4.1 per cent off, now they’re 3.9 per cent off. “You could say that it’s within the noise, it’s the same, or you could say they are 0.2 per cent faster, whatever. “What it means is that Aston have basically kept the same pace as all of the frontrunners, which is quite impressive. “Now, what that doesn’t include is the engine package, which is coming for Zandvoort, and Zandvoort is a real engine track. You need a very, very strong engine there. “So it will be interesting to see whether or not they can at least keep pace, because the engine deficit in Budapest, in that trace with Sainz, was much less of a problem than it would be in Zandvoort. “Aston really need Honda to step it up with this new engine package.” Smedley agreed that Aston Martin has cleared Cadillac and Williams, but has “not yet” moved ahead of Haas. However, he stressed that there is more to come. On top of the Honda engine upgrade, Aston Martin team principal and design guru Adrian Newey said that further AMR26 updates are coming for Zandvoort and Monza/Baku. With its Hungarian GP upgrades, Aston Martin achieved what it anticipated. “There’s a lot to come,” said Smedley. “What they’ve really been looking for is a stable platform. “The other good news is the correlation, so how much does the car give you on track compared to what you think it’s going to do in simulation. “Speaking with various people there, it’s kind of done what they thought it should have done.” More on Aston Martin from PlanetF1.com Otmar Szafnauer, the former Aston Martin team boss, acknowledged that Aston Martin found the all-important correlation between the virtual and real world despite his own doubts about the new-look AMR26. “I was sceptical, but it did correlate. “They got out of that package what their simulation tools said they should get out of that package.” Aston Martin team owner Lawrence Stroll declared his satisfaction with the first step taken in recovery by his team. Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? 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