Fernando Alonso denies theory over Aston Martin F1 future

Fernando Alonso has insisted his F1 future does not rely on the performance of Honda's upgraded power unit.

The Japanese manufacturer introduced its engine upgrade at the Dutch Grand Prix, marking its first update of the season.

Honda struggled for form across the opening half of the campaign, as did Aston Martin, who introduced a chassis upgrade in Hungary last month.

The disappointing start to the partnership has led to speculation over what it may mean for Alonso's future, as he is yet to confirm his stay on the grid in 2027.

But when asked how significant the performance of the new Honda engine will be for his decision, Alonso told media including RacingNews365: “Not important.

“I hope we see some benefit for sure in terms of power, drivability and the things that we were missing.

“But for me it's more important, like in Budapest with the chassis side, to see that there is an understanding philosophy on what the needs are and a step forward.”

As Aston Martin and Honda push to recover their form and enjoy a more positive second half, Alonso is not expecting substantial gains to bring it toward the front of the grid.

Instead, the two-time champion is studying the longer-term benefits of how the factory data translates to the real-life package. 

“In Budapest, we knew that we would not compete for the top positions, but we wanted to check that the direction on the chassis side was the correct one and I think we did that,” he said.

“So, that's something that is encouraging for the future that the correlation is good and what we expected was delivered.

“Now with the engine it's the same thing. They made some changes to the engine so it would be nice to confirm that everything is working as expected and if it's one tenth or one second it doesn't matter really, the number.

“We are too far behind to really care about a number. We just want to see that what we expected is delivered.”