Aston Martin's INSANE 3 Second Improvement with the AMR26 B-Spec Revealed | F1 2026

[00:00:00]The week that Aston Martin finally unleashed the AMR26B has arrived and it isn't a major exaggeration to actually call it a B-spec car. From major weight saving to fixing the aerodynamic issues and suspension changes and of course let's not forget the newest Honda engine still to come which includes a double-digit horsepower improvement will bring about massive performance gains for the team. The light at the end of the tunnel is just around the corner.

[00:00:28]We're going to talk about where all the problems lie after Newey has publicly explained them, the unprecedented level of performance improvements this package will bring the team and of course what maybe we can expect from them across the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend. Let's get to it. Of course so much has been made and talked about with this car and the struggles that they've had throughout the first half of this season. But now we have all the information that really lays it out for us giving us a complete understanding as to what is happening with the AMR26 across all the speed range of corners. And to say the drivers are not happy to see the back of it would be an understatement. Alonso was doing burnouts after the checkered flag in Belgium and I'm not sure really how many of you saw that Silverstone video but it's absolutely ridiculous. That's basically the aerodynamic stall kicking in that you've heard so much about in the last a month or so.

[00:01:26]Where in high-speed corners particularly they encounter this plague via the front wing and the front edge of the floor where essentially front downforce is suddenly lost resulting in the massive understeer we saw in Silverstone and the massive exaggerations on the steering wheel by Lance Stroll. And with those exaggerated steering angles that was Stroll basically visually showing the engineers at the track and back at the factory and the aero team that no matter the steering angle no front end comes into the car. He did that because essentially it cannot be seen on the pressure taps and they did not have a visual understanding of what was going on. So, this car makes the one Fernando had back in 2014 with Ferrari look like it was on rails in comparison to this hunk of junk. I mean, just look at it.

[00:02:19]Fernando really just overtakes Jarno because he is sliding all over the place and cannot keep the car on the track. I mean, what the hell is that? It's a joke. Now, to the upgrades. And we're going to break this down into three sections. The weight reduction, the aero fixes, and of course, the engine. Now, for weight reduction, it's been rumored the car is some 30 kg over the weight limit. This accounts for the chassis and gearbox. A mega amount, to say the least. And shedding all 30 kg would bring a natural lap time improvement of a second alone. And even if they aren't at the 30 kg overweight limit, and say more around the 20 kg, we're still looking at well over half a second of lap time improvement. The removal of high-speed aero stalling and all the other issues from balance and braking would bring about another second of a lap time improvement in the car alone.

[00:03:19]Again, the aero concepts are here to stay. They're going to be the same in terms of the shapes apparently, from what I've heard, apart from the nose.

[00:03:28]That is going to undergo a complete revision and probably the front wing element as well, given the aero stall they have from the front of the car. The crash tests at this point from the chassis side of things have been completed, as they would be needed with the weight loss. And all that is now needed is to put together the revisions to the engine cover, side pods, floor, rear and rear suspension. Now, the floor is an area that I think will look drastically different with this new B-spec car because, of course, that's become one of the hot areas of battle with regards to aerodynamic improvements and this lap time in this 2026 season that we're currently in. Now, in total, we're looking between the rate improvement and the arrow fixes around the 2 and 1/2 second mark. A miraculous amount of lap time to gain from these fixes. And we haven't even touched base on the new engine yet. Now, this very Monday just gone it's being spoken about that the new Honda engine will bring about a 50 horsepower improvement over the original. Now, that, if it turns out to be the case, is ginormous. And that can range between 1/2 a second to 3/4 of a second in improvement. So, in summary, the new Aston Martin AMR 26B should see a lap time improvement of from anywhere between 2 and 1/2 to 3.2 seconds once the engine has been bolted on alongside these arrow fixes. Of course, we know the engine is not coming until the second half of the season in Zandvoort.

[00:05:11]So, a little bit is still needed in terms of waiting for that to arrive.

[00:05:15]Now, for where this would put them in a pecking order, that is very difficult, but Aston Martin do have internally their sights set on not only Haas, Audi, but also Racing Bulls, who are leading the front of the midfield. So, lofty ambitions from these two or these three upgrade areas that they're bringing to their car. And that would put them from being in no-man's land at the back to being firmly within the midfield pack.

[00:05:45]So, a night and day difference for not only the team, but the drivers as well.

[00:05:49]And of course, this does have bearings on 27 as well, because of course, this is going to be the base of their car for next year. So they need to make sure everything is spot-on with this package, correlation, the engine improvements, because if they have it correct, they can have confidence in what they're doing for next year.

[00:06:09]Now for Hungary, I really expect them to make quite a substantial improvement.

[00:06:15]Whether it's season actually even challenging any of them back markers, I think Cadillac will be quite a team from which they can set their sights on at a bare minimum. I think maybe if they get the package working correctly, because of course, this is a major package, weight changes, arrow fixes, the balance issues, and everything that brings with it, and the kind of new setup direction you have to take, and you have to learn from scratch across the practice sessions. It's going to be a massive time a massive challenge for the drivers, for the team to get right, and I think we're going to see drastic improvements throughout the practice sessions and throughout the weekend as the drivers gain more confidence in the car, the fixes that they've put in it, and it just will bring about lap time improvements. So yeah, very, very interesting weekend ahead, and it's probably the team outside of Ferrari I'm going to be paying most attention to.

[00:07:17]All right, guys, I'm going to wrap the video up here. Hope you've enjoyed it.

[00:07:20]If you have, do leave a like on the video. Hit the subscribe button here on F1 Tech Unraveled if you've enjoyed the content within it, and of course, I will see you all across the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend. Catch you all then.

[00:08:00]>> Mhm.