While Alpine’s Franco Colapinto and Audi Formula 1 driver Gabriel Bortoleto completed a second day of Pirelli testing to finalise the 2027 tyre line-up, Aston Martin moved on from the previous day’s tyre work and instead deployed its second filming day of the season at the Hungaroring.
It was too good an opportunity to miss, given that the B-spec AMR26 made its first appearance at last weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix, featuring all the new developments Adrian Newey’s technical team had introduced to both the chassis and aerodynamics of the 2026 car.
The vast improvement moved Aston back into the pack, with Fernando Alonso managing to break into Q2 in qualifying for the first time this year, with he and team-mate Lance Stroll finishing 14th and 13th respectively.
Jak Crawford, Aston Martin
Photo by: Aston Martin
Significantly, Wednesday’s filming day was used to shake down Honda’s long-awaited new power unit, which benefits from the development token granted by the Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities catch-up system.
The fact that the test was aimed more at analysing the Honda RA626H engine than at the need to film footage is evident from the fact that the driving was entrusted to the team’s third driver, American Jak Crawford; otherwise, the two regular drivers would have likely been called upon.
Shintaro Orihara, Honda chief engineer
Photo by: Alastair Staley / LAT Images via Getty Images
The Japanese engineers, working alongside the Aston Martin team, were able to make important comparisons with the AMR26 that raced at the weekend, using the data from the grand prix – despite the fact that only demo tyres can be used on filming days.
The initial indications appear to have been positive, as the test is understood to have gone well, and troublesome vibrations that had impacted the start of the season seem to have been eliminated.
Honda is planning to deploy its upgraded power unit, which is believed could yield as much as 30bhp, at Zandvoort’s Dutch Grand Prix, the first race after the summer break on 23 August.
This is certainly not enough to challenge the likes of Mercedes or Red Bull-Ford, but it is a significant step forward that – in combination with the radically different car – could give Alonso and Stroll the final push they need to start contending for points on some circuits.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
– The Motorsport.com Team
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: motorsport.com
