Aston Martin's revamped Formula 1 car suffered a suspected rear suspension failure in the first practice session of the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Aston Martin brought 16 new upgrades to Budapest, effectively arriving with a completely new car, in a bid to mount a comeback from a nightmare start to the season.
The upgrade has been hyped for weeks leading into this weekend's race, but its debut session did not go smoothly, with Lance Stroll spinning off after just 11 laps.
When his car came to a halt, the left rear wheel assembly appeared loose.
Aston Martin team boss Adrian Newey did not elaborate in much detail in the traditional Friday news conference which followed the session.
"As you can imagine everybody's feverishly trying to understand exactly what went wrong and what happened as we speak, it's only once we have an understanding that we can comment on what we do next but we obviously need to have a position fairly shortly ready for FP2 [Free Practice Two]," Newey said.
Aston Martin later confirmed it was a rear suspension issue.
That part of the car was not in the upgrade, but the issue might limit Stroll's participation in the weekend due to Aston Martin's current lack of spare parts.
"The area involved was actually not being changed, we are short on spares because the cladding and so forth is different, so there are some minor changes in that area but in that sense it's very unexpected, as I say until we have an understanding it's difficult to comment further," Newey added.
There was an optimistic note, though -- teammate Fernando Alonso finished FP1 in 13th, 2.475 seconds off the pace, a marked improvement from what Aston Martin had come to expect so far this season.
Aston Martin later confirmed Stroll would take no part in Friday's second practice session as the investigation into the matter continued, meaning the mileage of the new upgrade will be limited going into Saturday's track running.
Aston Martin has found itself locked in a battle with F1 newcomers Cadillac so far in 2026 and has struggled even to make it out of the opening qualifying session, Q1.
Newey seemed keen to downplay early analysis of the upgrade, good or bad.
- Aston Martin upgrade: 16-part car update revealed at Hungarian GP
- Fernando Alonso committed to Aston Martin: 'I have zero doubts' despite season-long struggles
- Hungarian GP: Charles Leclerc quickest in first practice despite issue with Ferrari in closing stages
"We only really got properly running data acquisition first of all and then with Fernando we got on to the soft tyres near the end. Very early days in terms of understanding the new package.
"Provisional results are promising, it's only part of the package so we'll have some more steps in Zandvoort and then further steps in Monza-Baku so it's the first part of our planned upgrade. Very short on parts so we're being careful with it and trying to learn all about it."
From the first laps of winter testing, it was clear Aston Martin and new engine partner Honda were in deep trouble and hugely uncompetitive.
Rather than drip feeding upgrades through the season Newey, the most successful car designer in F1 history, opted for a complete overhaul for the Hungarian Grand Prix.
The tight and twisty Budapest circuit is a good test of aerodynamics.
Saturday's qualifying session will give the best indicator of the sort of step forward Newey's new car has made.
It will also give the team a chance to get on top of the upgrade before Honda arrives with a newly built engine at the Dutch Grand Prix, which follows the near four-week August break.
