Krack (Aston Martin): “We’re working on having two cars ready”

Is this weekend really the long-awaited turning point for Aston Martin? After ten gruelling Grand Prix weekends marred by numerous problems, the team from Silverstone in England is bringing two completely new chassis to Budapest. Work in the garage is still in full swing. The much-heralded upgrade is finally set to turn things round for Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll’s team.

The chronology of the team’s struggles in the 2026 season so far is as follows: the Silverstone-based team skipped the shakedown to continue working on the car. During the winter tests in Bahrain, they also missed out on a lot of track time because the reliability issues were so severe. As a result, they fell further and further behind. In the first two Grand Prix races, both cars retired. In Japan, Fernando Alonso crossed the finish line for the first time, in 18th place. In Miami, both Aston Martin cars finished a race together for the very first time. A small ray of hope: in Monaco, Alonso climbed up to 10th place, securing a point. However, this was down more to the other teams’ misfortune than to a successful performance by Aston Martin.

A completely new car

During the first half of the season, Aston Martin had introduced hardly any upgrades. Working frugally and patiently behind the scenes, the team developed a completely revamped car – and that is finally set to make its debut in Budapest, the last race before the summer break.

Krack “fairly confident”

Chief Trackside Officer Mike Krack revealed at a well-attended media session in the Budapest paddock that the garage had still been empty on Wednesday, but work was progressing. “We’re working on having two cars ready for tomorrow.” That is, for the first free practice session on Friday morning. Krack said he was “quite confident” that this would work out. The plan is to field both cars as new variants, i.e. with the same specification. However, the spare chassis (of the older design) are also on site in Budapest as a contingency. The team raced at Spa just last week – so the schedule in the garage is tight.

What’s new about the Aston Martin

What’s new about the new Aston Martin? Krack explains: it’s a “significant aero update”. The focus was also on weight reduction. The engine and gearbox remain unchanged.

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So everything is new at Aston Martin in Budapest – is this the turning point? Krack: “The quality of our data will be all the more important for understanding the simulations. But we don’t expect to get everything sorted out on the first out-lap tomorrow.”

Not an “all or nothing” situation

And what is the objective for the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend? Krack: “If we manage to be in contention, if we’re back in the mix and it’s racing again, then it’ll be a good weekend. We need to get back to that.” Krack emphasises, however: “It’s not an ‘all or nothing’ weekend.”