In what should've been a productive weekend for the team, engine issues continue to hound Aston Martin at Zandvoort.
When it rains, it pours. At least inside the Aston Martin garage.
Driveability and a significant rear wing issue marred Fernando Alonso's Sprint Qualifying run yesterday. The Spaniard qualified last in the grid, as he suffered from an obvious performance loss in SQ1.
Aston Martin then made changes to the car before the Sprint race, which comes with a pit lane start punishment. Alonso would finish the race in P18, while his teammate Lance Stroll crossed the checkered flag in 17th place.
With Honda delivering a new power unit for the 2026 F1 Dutch Grand Prix, many believed that Aston Martin could finally make a drastic jump this weekend. It was their first upgrade under the FIA's new Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities (ADUO) program. ADUO was designed to level the playing field and help lagging teams improve their performance as the season progresses.
The new PU follows Aston Martin's chassis overhaul, which gave them a performance boost during the Hungarian Grand Prix in July. Then, during the summer break, reports got out that Aston Martin will be fitting an upgraded Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) for the Dutch GP.
But Aston Martin would be in for an unhappy surprise in Zandvoort, as they encountered a couple of pressing issues, more particularly in Alonso's car.
Rear wing issue is the main culprit
Alonso had himself a rough session in Sprint Qualifying, finishing 22nd and seconds away from the cut-off time for SQ2. After the session, it was found that Alonso's car wasn't able to activate its straight-line mode. In turn, the rear wing did not open, which cost the Aston Martin driver a lot of lap time.
Still, there's a case to be made Lance Stroll couldn't also advance to SQ2 despite a fully functional rear wing. Stroll only finished P19, which takes us to…
The new engine causing a driveability issue
In his first lap in SQ1, Alonso went off the track early, which he traced to the car's driveability. Alonso was quoted as saying that the new engine was "overdelivering", which makes braking extra difficult for him.
As a result, Aston Martin made changes to Alonso's car, which forced the two-time champion to start the Sprint from the pit lane.
The team, with Adrian Newey's decorated engineering expertise at the helm, have their work cut out in front of them. But Newey has his successful history backing him up. Aston Martin might just need more time to work this out.
