Formula 1 may have a new force fighting for wins in the coming years, at least in the opinion of David Coulthard. The former F1 driver believes that even after a very difficult start to the 2026 season, Aston Martin will be the team that evolves the most on the grid and predicts wins by 2028 at the latest.
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This assessment was made after the updates introduced by the team at the Hungarian GP. Aston Martin decided to forgo small developments throughout the season to focus its efforts on a broader package, presented in Budapest. New power unit updates are also planned for the Zandvoort round at the end of August.
So far, the 2026 season has been very challenging for the British team. The only point scored came with Fernando Alonso at the Monaco GP, while performance and reliability issues marked the start of the championship, including strong vibrations in the power unit since the opening race in Australia. At the Hungarian GP, Lance Stroll and Alonso finished only in 13th and 14th places, respectively.
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During a participation in the Up to Speed podcast, Coulthard made a harsh analysis of Aston Martin’s moment: “I think even Aston themselves would like to erase this season from the history books. That single point came with Fernando Alonso, in Monaco, in a race that had more penalties than drivers,” he said. He then added: “Aston was really very bad. The summary is that about one second came from the engine and a few seconds came from the car.”
Despite the criticism, the Scot showed confidence in the team’s future. Coulthard highlighted the work led by Adrian Newey, the partnership with Honda, and the Silverstone facility, built with an investment of approximately US$ 270 million: “You can write down what I’m saying, they will be the team that evolves the most in the next two years. My prediction is that they will win GPs during this period, or at the latest in 2028,” concluded the Scot.
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