Formula 1 driver Fernando Alonso of the Aston Martin Aramco Formula 1 Team during the Formula 1 Zandvoort race at the Circuit Zandvoort in Zandvoort, the Netherlands, on August 23, 2026. (Photo by EYE4Images/NurPhoto via Getty Images) | NurPhoto via Getty Images Aston Martin began the 2026 Formula 1 season on the back foot, with a car that was overweight and a power unit that caused vibrations so significant that parts were literally falling off the AMR26. Weeks of work on the aerodynamic side, as well as with the Honda power unit, have finally put the AMR26 in a better place. The team heads to Monza for this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix coming off their best race of the season, as Fernando Alonso finished ninth. However, chief technical officer Enrico Cardile cautioned ahead of this weekend that no further aerodynamic upgrades are planned for this season. In an interview shared on the team’s website, Cardile outlined that the recent upgrades Aston Martin brought to the Hungarian Grand Prix and the Dutch Grand Prix are the last planned developments for the AMR26. “After Hungary, we brought a few small refinements – tweaks to the front wing and floor at Zandvoort. Those will be the last planned aero developments for this car,” said Cardile. “The only exception would be if, while we’re developing the 2027 car, we discover something that it makes sense to test on track this year to help our correlation. But as of now, nothing more is scheduled.” The Aston Martin CTO did indicate that the team will continue to focus on shaving weight, in an effort to get the AMR26 down to the minimum weight required under the F1 Technical Regulations. “We do still have our weight‑saving programme to complete. That should be done around Baku [site of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix later this month]. From Baku onwards, we’ll essentially be running the final version of the car for the rest of the season.” Cardile also backed the decision to focus on one substantial upgrade package, rather than a series of incremental steps at the start of the year. “It was a brave decision. A very brave decision,” described Cardile. “But it was the right decision. Taking that approach changes everything about how an F1 team operates. When you’re constantly delivering small updates, you’re always under time pressure. Every few weeks you have to freeze something, release it, manufacture it, ship it. You’re sprinting all the time. “What we did was give people time. Time for the aerodynamicists, the designers, the engineers. Time to rethink concepts, to explore ideas that need more than a few weeks to mature. Some concepts have big potential but require patience. “By removing the pressure of ‘you must deliver something in four or five weeks,’ we created the space to do something more impactful. For me, it was the only way to achieve the step we’ve made. I don’t think we could have done this with a traditional, incremental approach.” He conceded that the approach made for a tough start to the year, on the track and off. “Emotionally, it was very tough. We had to go through several races with very poor performance, which was frustrating from the outside and painful on the inside. But now, with hindsight, we can say that taking that risk was the right decision,” added Cardile. And while Cardile also conceded that the Italian Grand Prix will be “tricky,” it will not be a “wasted” weekend, as the team will gather as much data as possible to back the renewed focus on the 2027 challenger. “Monza will not be a wasted weekend. For everyone at Silverstone, it’s been a huge effort to suddenly have a brand‑new car, with a different DNA, and learn how to extract performance from it. We will use Monza to keep understanding this car, to see how it behaves in that specific environment,” began Cardile. “We’ll focus on exploiting the track characteristics as best we can and on learning. From a technical point of view, it will be valuable. From a results point of view, we know it will be hard. But the bigger picture is more important.” That bigger picture? A better challenger next year. “This season is already the past,” concluded Cardile. “Our task now is to extract as much information as we can from 2026 because all of that will guide the 2027 project. “Every single part will be new. Everything will have been improved. “But conceptually, it will be an evolution of the direction we took with this year’s car. “We’re on the right path now, but we’re not tied to it. “Let’s put it this way: when it comes to tackling the ’27 project, we haven’t placed any constraints on ourselves in terms of trying to carry anything over from the previous car. “In this sense, it will be a completely new car, and it gives us the freedom and mindset to achieve what we want.”