Aston Martin's parts fear for its 'B-spec' 2026 F1 car
Aston Martin has admitted that it is going to be tight on spare parts for its 'B-spec' 2026 Formula 1 car's debut at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
The team will unleash an overhauled AMR26 at the Hungaroring next weekend, which it hopes will help it move off the back of the grid.
As well as the new car featuring changes to the rear suspension, nose, and other aerodynamic surfaces, there has been a big effort to reduce car weight too.
With team principal and technical director Adrian Newey throwing everything at ensuring the revised car is as good as it can be, Aston Martin has been aggressive in terms of waiting for as long as possible before signing off on parts production.
That has resulted in deadlines being pushed to the limit, which means it may not be in as comfortable a spot as it wants to be in terms of having the necessary spare parts ready for the car's first outing.
Speaking ahead of the Belgian GP, chief trackside officer Mike Krack said that confirmation over whether it would have enough spares for both cars was "the $1million question" for Aston Martin right now.
"Everybody works flat out to get the parts, to get the cars ready," he said.
"It is a big undertaking if you decide to do it like that, because you always try to push the deadlines as far as you can.
"So it's a big effort going on at AMRTC [Aston Martin's factory] at the moment, and I'm a positive thinker, so I think we will have two cars ready to go. Now I don't think we will have five spares of each, to be honest."
Krack's comments suggest that there is a degree of uncertainty about how complete its package may be, which is why he said that there was some contingency planning in place to ensure that the whole upgrade effort was not derailed by a few parts not making it.
The Hungary package is the first part of a two-step plan, with the second due to arrive at the Dutch GP after the summer break, alongside engine partner Honda's sole 2026 upgrade.
"You always have to put scenarios in place or if you have this [part] but not this [part]," he said. "You cannot make yourself dependent on one part missing and then you cannot do it.
"So there are plans in place. It is like: if we don't have that, can we run this?
"Again, you will not have the full back-up for everything. But I think everybody has done a good job in trying to put mitigations in place, but also have plan Bs for if one or two components can't make it."
