2026 Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team

[F1RAM]

This result was possible due to incredible tyre wear, bit of luck and on point strategy for once. Alonso could only take advantage of other faster cars getting stuck behind Sainz because of the tyre management. So it's kudos to the new chassis improvements.
Now for the engine, improved potential will only be realised in 2-3races. Hopefully the fully optimised car + pu would give us more points finishes on merit.

[KimiRai]

Great pitstops

[Bisonas]

I get the feeling that people don’t totally realize how fast Alonso was and how good the race execution was on Alonso side.
Yes luck is always a factor, but Alonso made his own luck and the result was a combination of Alonso’s ability, very low tyre deg some good strategy calls from the team.
I doubt even Alonso himself realized how good or decent his pace was today after getting out of the car.
IMO only after a complete analysis of the race lap by lap would make him fully realize his potential today.

After rewatching the race through live timing lap by lap I concluded (this is just my opinion) that the race pace was near AUDIs and RB territory.
Not certainly better that AUDIs and RB but much much closer than most ppl think.
The way the race unfolded masked the true pace of Alonso, especially in the first half of the race.

The final positions (of the best of the rest group) had mostly to do with tyre deg flexibility and on which driver managed (through starting position and strategy) to do the most laps on free air, than stuck behind another car dictating his pace while unable to pass.

I can write down the analysis along with all the key points of Alonso race but it would be a very long text.

My take on the race, after my research on lap times and strategy of the Middlefield teams, is that AMR pace today was a lot closer to AUDIs and RB than most people realize and after analyzing this race, in my eyes, AMR on Alonso’s hands will be the 5th fastest team very soon.

And by saying very soon I mean in the next 2 to 5 races.

I find it really difficult with that momentum, and with the B-spec car and upgraded engine on such early stages, and with all the things that are coming in the next races (weight reduction, aero upgrades, setup refinements, engine software refinements, drivability and deployment improvements etc, I find it really difficult not to get ahead of AUDI and RB in the next 2-5 races no matter what AUDI and RB do.

[KimiRai]

thanks Bisonas for your analysis. always looking forward to reading it, even if you don't realize it.

from the data I've seen, it looks as though your view is confirmed. Monza will be more difficult of course.

[Bisonas]

thanks Bisonas for your analysis. always looking forward to reading it, even if you don't realize it.

from the data I've seen, it looks as though your view is confirmed. Monza will be more difficult of course.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HQaxIv2a4AE ... =4096x4096

Thank you KimiRai for the chart. I do believe though that in a race that is really hard to pass with faster cars getting stuck behind slower cars is hard to see the true pace in any laptime oriented data visualization chart. It gives you an indication, yes, but we have to watch and analyze the race lap by lap, not only with data visualizations that are lap time oriented, but also adding to the equation the circumstances effecting those lap times and then compare them to other drivers circumstances at the same time.

As i said in the earlier post,i do believe that the final positions (of the best of the rest group) had mostly to do with tyre deg and strategy flexibility and on which driver managed (through starting position and strategy) to do the most laps on free air, than getting stuck behind another car that was dictating his pace while unable to pass.

Through data and analysis of the circumstances, i do believe that ALO true pace for example was much closer to HUL than this chart suggests but circumstances prevented him to demonstrated or to be visualized in such a chart.

Lets not forget that Alonso was the only driver that did (due to circumstances and strategy choices) a one stop race (not counting the early red flag) and that heavily affected his pace visualization compared to other drivers in the Middlefield.

We can take for granted non the less that this race demonstrated the low tyre deg of the AMR B-spec car along with the flexibility that this low tyre deg provides on strategy calls.

Other races coming (not Monza at this stage as you said) will also demonstrated the true pace of the car which i think very very soon will be de facto the 5th fastest car.

[Otromundo]

Yesterday, I watched a YouTube?? video comparing FP1 data between Verstappen and Alonso. It caught my attention—despite the usual uncertainties regarding car weight and fuel loads during FP1—because the final lap times were very similar. The AMR26’s biggest shortcomings compared to the RB were acceleration and top speed. I don't recall if the video was in Spanish; let me see if I can find it, and if it's in English, I'll post a link. Given the car's current state—still very much in development—the data didn't seem bad at all, considering this is effectively "the second race" of the season for us.

I think we finally have something working in our favor—specifically tire degradation and performance in high-speed corners, which I consider vital right now. Other crucial areas have improved (strategy and pit work), and there are signs of potential improvement elsewhere. In short, there is life in the team yet. Finally. I believe the biggest challenge is optimizing the electric energy management; if they can get that right, things could improve significantly.

I imagine we will struggle at Monza for precisely the reason mentioned earlier: a lack of straight-line speed caused by poor electrical energy management. However, it is also possible that some teams will be forced to change components—incurring the resulting penalties—and start from the back of the grid. Should that happen, it will be interesting to observe the performance of the entire team: the car, strategies, pit crew, and drivers. If, as I hope, they at least put in a respectable performance given the demands of Monza, I will obviously be even more satisfied than I am now.

In summary:

[Rikrikrik]

It was great to see how much we’ve improved since Belgium, but Honda is a real worry for me; having the best chassis doesn't help if the engine doesn't deliver at least reasonable performance. I really hope that with further optimizations, the engine can do justice to the chassis—it would be incredibly frustrating to have a fantastic car next year and see it all go to waste because of Honda.

[Otromundo]

The video I referred to in my previous message is in Spanish. It also has huge subtitles in the same language. But just in case anyone is curious, here is the link:

[Ashwinv16]

I would not be too downbeat about Monza just yet. While Highspeed is good, you can do good in monza if you have good tyre wear and exceptional traction. You never know.

[F1RAM]

I would not be too downbeat about Monza just yet. While Highspeed is good, you can do good in monza if you have good tyre wear and exceptional traction. You never know.

When Gasly was catching up to Alonso in the last 10laps, Alonso was like matching Gasly's 13laps! younger tyre Alpine in S1 and S2 but was loosing 4-5tenths just from the final rundown to T1. That tells you the strengths and weakness of AMR26B.
So yeah Monza will be a pain, but it should help fine-tune the energy management. I would not be surprised if they take new updated components to add to the PU pool for future flexibility.