The Aston Martin comeback story is the talk of the F1 paddock right now, but not everyone is ready to call it a revival just yet. After a brutal first half of the 2026 season, the team finally showed some life at the Hungarian Grand Prix, bringing a massive 16-upgrade package that reportedly shaved two seconds off their lap times and pushed Fernando Alonso into Q2 for the first time in months.
It was a sorely needed turnaround for a squad that had become a punchline, trailing the field by seconds and scraping together just one point all year. The green machines were nowhere near the pace expected from a team with Adrian Newey calling the shots and a two-time champion behind the wheel.
Now, with a long-awaited upgrade to their Honda power unit reportedly coming for the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, there’s fresh hope that Aston Martin can claw closer to the midfield pack. But one close insider is urging fans to keep their expectations in check.
According to Spanish commentator Antonio Lobato, a longtime Alonso confidant, what we’re seeing is essentially damage control. Speaking to SoyMotor, Lobato explained that the team deliberately held off on upgrades during the first half of the season and are now rushing to catch up with a flurry of new parts planned for Zandvoort, Baku, and Italy.
“They chose not to do anything new, not to introduce any upgrades in the first part of the season, and from now on they are doing everything,” Lobato said. “I think that, in any case, it’s far from the initial objective. So what they are doing is patching up the wounds.”
The original goal, he reminded, was nothing less than fighting for race wins. Instead, Aston Martin is scrapping with Audi, Alpine, and RB just to get a sniff of Q2. “At best, they will fight with Audi,” Lobato said.
“That wasn’t the objective either. Being the best of the rest wasn’t the objective. We were thinking bigger.”
So while the upgrades are a welcome sign of life, Lobato’s comments suggest this is a long road back, not a sudden leap to glory. If the team is only patching up wounds for now, what will it take to truly heal and chase those original ambitions?
