Alonso hopeful for 2026 as Aston Martin now 'trust the tools in the factory'

Fernando Alonso has conceded that he is feeling more optimistic about Aston Martin’s prospects heading towards 2026 now that the team “trust the tools that we have in the factory” following some successful upgrades during the 2025 campaign.

Off the back of a challenging start to the season, the Silverstone-based outfit looked to have made steps forward after bringing updates during the European triple header, having regularly scored points in the races since.

When asked during the Italian Grand Prix weekend if the success of these developments had given him even more hope moving into 2026 – a year in which new technical regulations will be introduced into the sport – Alonso responded: “Yeah, definitely.

“I think to trust the tools that we have in the factory and bring things to the track that actually deliver what was expected from them is obviously a very good thing.

“We didn’t have that in 2023 and in 2024. So yeah, it’s good to go back to a more normal factory-track kind of correlation and develop the 2026 car next winter knowing that the tools are correct.”

While the race at Monza delivered a disappointing conclusion for Aston Martin – with Alonso forced to retire owing to a suspension failure while team mate Lance Stroll ended the event in P18 – Alonso believes there are some tracks remaining on the calendar that could provide good opportunities for the squad.

“I think we have a couple of places that we think are more similar to Budapest and Zandvoort,” the two-time World Champion explained. “Maybe Singapore can be one of those, maybe Brazil.

“But, you know, we’ve been surprised a little bit – sometimes negatively surprised, sometimes positively – so we are not really putting all the hopes in one or two races.

“We will go every weekend to give our maximum, even if it seems difficult. And yeah, we’ll see in Abu Dhabi how many points and which constructor position we have at the end.”

As things stand ahead of the final eight races of the 2025 season, Aston Martin currently sit in sixth place of the Teams’ Championship with a tally of 62 points, just one point clear of Racing Bulls in seventh.