HOW HUNGARY SHOWED ASTON MARTIN ARE 'BACK RACING'

Aston Martin's Hungarian GP wasn't a triumph, but it was a pulse check after six months in the ICU. The revised AMR26 chassis leapfrogged Cadillac, Williams, and Haas in one swing — P13 and P14 after running dead last at Spa the week prior. Mike Krack called it "back racing," which sounds modest until you remember this team has been hemorrhaging performance since preseason. Adrian Newey's upgrades delivered the promised lap time bump. What they didn't predict was beating three outfits outright.

The catch: Lance Stroll lost Friday to a suspension failure, so only Fernando Alonso logged real setup work. Alonso stretched 34 laps on softs before a late VSC pit dropped him behind his teammate. Both cars finished, both collected data — no small feat for a squad that's been reliability roadkill in 2026. Honda's bringing a revised power unit to Zandvoort, and more aero is queued. Whether Aston can sustain this climb or if Hungary was a one-off depends on what unlocks next.