Lance Stroll’s mental edge is under the microscope as Aston Martin rolls into Hungary with a massive upgrade that could either save their season or expose deeper cracks. The Canadian driver has retired from four of the last five grands prix, and his only point in the last 19 races came way back in September 2025.
Sky Sports F1 commentator David Croft didn’t hold back when discussing the pressure on the team and its drivers ahead of this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix. According to Croft, Aston Martin’s new ‘AMR26B’ package is reportedly worth around two seconds a lap—a jaw-dropping leap that could finally lift the struggling squad off the bottom of the grid.
The team, guided by design legend Adrian Newey and powered by Honda, has been battling reliability and performance woes all season. They’ve scored just one point from the first 10 race weekends—Fernando Alonso’s single point in Monaco. Stroll hasn’t contributed a single point during that stretch.
Croft told the Sky Sports F1 podcast that the upgrade is a make-or-break moment. “They want to be racing Cadillac and Williams with this new upgrade. That is the big hope,” he said.
But Croft also raised questions about the drivers’ mindset after months of just trying to survive laps. He suggested Stroll may have been able to continue in Belgium despite citing gearbox issues. “I’m not quite sure how much of an issue those gearboxes were or whether he could have carried on or not,” Croft explained.
He warned that both Alonso and Stroll will need to flip a mental switch from “complete as many laps as we can” to a full-on racing mentality. “They’ve got to get into that mindset that they’ve not been in all season,” he added.
With the Hungarian Grand Prix just days away, all eyes are on whether the AMR26B will deliver the promised speed—and whether Stroll can finally show he’s ready to fight again. If this upgrade doesn’t work, where does that leave Aston Martin’s future?
