Aston Martin was the positive surprise at the Formula 1 race in Hungary, but Lance Stroll believes that was mainly due to the track
Was Aston Martin’s good result in Hungary just down to the track? Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll surprisingly finished fifth and seventh in Budapest after starting from the back row just a week earlier in Belgium – a miraculous turnaround.
Even within the team itself, people are puzzling over where the good performance suddenly came from. But Stroll believes it was simply because the Hungaroring suited the AMR25 much better than Spa-Francorchamps: “If we went back to Spa tomorrow, we’d be last again,” he said immediately after the race in Hungary.
“Obviously, our strengths lie more on tracks like this than at Spa – with efficiency, less wing and all those things,” said the Canadian. “We seem to be more competitive when we increase downforce on tracks like this.”
The car was simply in the right window from start to finish – something that didn’t work at all in Belgium. The question is why. “We have a few ideas, but we need to keep trying to understand why this weekend was so much better,” said Stroll.
Stroll: Didn’t feel any different in Hungary than in Belgium
A few things had changed on the car: a new front wing was in use, and the underbody upgrade from Silverstone made a comeback in Hungary. That should bring a small boost, but it doesn’t explain the complete turnaround.
Especially since Stroll says he didn’t necessarily feel any different in the car than he did the week before. “I felt connected to the car at Spa too, but we were just slow,” he says. “You feel connected here, you feel connected there, but one week you’re last and the next week you’re fighting at the front. I don’t have all the answers.“
But where will Aston Martin be when Formula 1 resumes after the summer break in Zandvoort? ”You tell me, I don’t know,” Stroll shrugs when asked. After Hungary, the answer is likely to be different than after Belgium, but where does the truth lie?
“We don’t really know from week to week, depending on the character of the track, where we stand,” said Stroll. “Either we’re fighting in Q3 a tenth behind pole or we’re last, two and a half seconds behind pole. So I have no idea.”
Krack: A good midfield position would be important
Race director Mike Krack echoes this sentiment, saying that he would have laughed at anyone who asked him after Spa whether Aston Martin would be just a tenth of a second off pole again in the next race – as was the case in Hungary.
But the circumstances were special: “The weather changed, the session got slower and slower, the wind picked up, the weather was coming in, and I think what also helped us was that we were always at the front of the field and didn’t get in each other’s way,” he said.
“I think there can be races like that. But to predict that now would not be very professional, I think.”
In any case, Zandvoort will be approached in the same way as Budapest: “You have to look at the specifics, you have to pay attention to the weather, you have to see where the car is strong, where it is weak, and then make the decisions,” says Krack.
“The most important thing is to stay in the midfield battle and try to win it so that we can at least finish the season in a decent position before we attack in ’26.”
