Alonso contradicts Newey by insisting Hungary upgrade will not decide his Aston Martin future

Fernando Alonso has contradicted his own team boss by insisting that Aston Martin’s planned upgrade package for the Hungarian Grand Prix will not be the deciding factor in whether he continues with the team beyond 2026.

Adrian Newey had suggested earlier this week that the Budapest upgrade could be the key to keeping the double world champion on board. “Fernando is really looking forward to the upgrade and, if it performs, we hope he’ll be in the cockpit for another season,” Newey said. “Given his experience, his feel for the car, his ability to guide development, he’s a tremendous asset. But he wants to see clear, tangible progress. If we can show that we’re moving decisively in the right direction, he’s absolutely committed to being behind the wheel.”

Alonso, speaking ahead of this weekend’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone, offered a notably different framing. “I cannot say that it’s really connected,” the Spaniard said. “Because if the car is good or bad, there are other factors that I need to think about.” He confirmed he expects to make a decision on his future during the summer break that follows the Hungarian race.

The context makes the upgrade critical regardless of Alonso’s personal situation. Aston Martin have endured a wretched start to the 2026 season, scoring just one point across the opening eight rounds and at times running a full second off the pace. The team deliberately held back incremental updates in favour of a more substantial overhaul aimed at addressing the overweight AMR26, making Hungary the first real test of whether their development direction is sound.

“It is important to see the direction that we took and all the time that we took as well since Bahrain,” Alonso said. “The team made the decision to wait for a proper package to be introduced whenever it was. We didn’t know if it was race seven or race 12 or at the end of the year. But we knew that this is our starting place and position. This is not good enough.”

Alonso was candid about the scale of the problems facing the Silverstone-based outfit. “We are lacking downforce, power, gearbox, experience, all these kind of things,” he said. “So we need to make a study, we need to regroup and we need to make a plan. For me it’s important to feel in Hungary that we are understanding what are the weaknesses of the car and we are tackling them.”

With his contract expiring at the end of the season and the team yet to demonstrate meaningful competitiveness under the new 2026 regulations, Alonso’s future at Aston Martin remains genuinely uncertain — whatever the Hungary upgrade delivers.