Fernando Alonso questions “money machine” as top F1 teams relentlessly pursue upgrades

Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz have both been surprised by the pace of development of the top Formula 1 teams in 2026, given the tight constraints of the FIA cost cap.

The cap was the main reason why Aston Martin has gone for a policy of throwing everything at one major package that is due to hit the track either just before or immediately after the summer break, leaving Alonso and his team mate Lance Stroll, stuck with an unchanged car for now.

Meanwhile, the top teams have been bringing rafts of upgrades to the track on a regular basis, with Red Bull introducing an extensive package in Austria this weekend. 

Asked by Crash.net if he agreed with Aston’s policy of focusing on a single major package, Alonso made his frustration clear.

“Apparently, there is no money to bring upgrades, unlimited upgrades like the other teams do,” he said. 

“Which is surprising to see the FIA [upgrade submission] page on Friday every race, because maybe they have the money machine in the minus one [floor] in the factory.”

Expanding on the decision to wait for the summer break, he said: “Our team, and our leaders, they took the decision in Australia to wait until it was worth making an upgraded package, for cost efficiency and things like that, and we all agree on that. And we are all waiting on that, and we wait in the best manner possible.

“Obviously, we don't know exactly the cost cap limitations, and how much is going to change in the car, and the time that was needed to understand the problems. It's not that you can trial and error with some of the upgrades.”

In contrast to Aston Martin, Sainz’s Williams team has been pursuing aero upgrades, with more to come next week at Silverstone and a further package due for Azerbaijan.

However, an example of how the Grove team has had to work within the cap is that it is waiting to introduce lighter parts, because it first has to get the full life out of the earlier batches of the reworked components.

Like his countryman, Sainz indicated that he’s been surprised by the pace of development elsewhere.

“It is not only Williams,” he said. “If you look at any other team, I think everyone is scratching their heads at how the top teams manage to do what they've done this year. 

“And you look at the last five races, no one is bringing more upgrades than the top teams, so this is still impressive what they're able to do.”

Sainz admitted that the top teams are simply more efficient in terms of development.

“It shows that it's not all money,” he said. “Which at the same time is in a good way, because we know money is not the issue in Williams, and we have the budgets, and we have the investment from the board on so many things. The team has been investing a lot of money in all the facilities we have now. 

“A lot of it is processes, efficiencies, work methods, and that's where it gets complicated, because that's where we need to get it right, and we need to analyse, and obviously also hire talent from other teams to help us understand in which areas we are still not strong enough.”