Fernando Alonso may have spent much of 2026 staring at the wrong end of the Formula 1 field, but there are finally signs that Aston Martin is beginning to find its way forward.

The Spaniard secured ninth at Zandvoort for two points — the team’s best result of the season — after a remarkable strategy and a marathon stint on the hard tyres. Starting from 18th, Alonso kept the Aston Martin alive while faster cars stopped around him, eventually holding off Pierre Gasly to claim the final points-paying position.

More importantly, Alonso believes the result was evidence of genuine progress rather than simply a gift from other people’s misfortune.

“I think another step forward, especially on the chassis side. I think now we are optimising the chassis height, and we are able to extract the maximum.” Alonso said, pointing to four or five new components introduced at Zandvoort and further refinement of Aston Martin’s Budapest upgrade package.

The improvement is particularly encouraging because Aston Martin’s updated car has retained one of its strongest characteristics: tyre management. Alonso was able to stretch his strategy far beyond the conventional plan, ultimately completing a 37-lap stint on the hard compound.

“I’m very happy,” Alonso said after the race. “I think they nailed all the decisions.”

But there remains a rather large fly in the ointment: Honda’s power unit.

Alonso was considerably less enthusiastic about the engine, saying Aston Martin was still struggling with its behaviour.

“On the drivability, it has been a difficult weekend,” he admitted. “We’re struggling with the downshift again and we’re struggling with the engine braking corner to corner.”

That matters because the AMR26 appears increasingly capable in the corners, while its performance on the straights remains a major weakness. Alonso expects the team to struggle at Monza, where straight-line speed is particularly important, although he believes other circuits could offer further opportunities for points.

And Alonso was refreshingly realistic about the significance of his result.

“I think we scored one point in Monaco with nine DNFs, and today we scored two points with Max DNF. So I think it was well deserved.”

In other words, Aston Martin has not suddenly transformed into a front-running team. But after months of misery, the AMR26 is finally beginning to look like a car with something to build on.

The chassis is moving in the right direction. The tyres are behaving. The strategy is working. Now Honda just needs to stop making Alonso wrestle with the gearbox.