David Coulthard points to Aston Martin momentum shift after hitting “rock bottom”

Setembro 3, 2026 lojamais44@gmail.com

Former Formula 1 driver David Coulthard has argued that Aston Martin has reached “rock bottom” and is now beginning its gradual recovery.

Speaking on the Up To Speed podcast ahead of the Italian Grand Prix, the 13-time grand prix winner drew comparisons to McLaren’s previous slump before the Woking outfit bounced back to claim back-to-back constructors’ titles in 2024 and 2025.

Aston Martin has endured a difficult 2026 campaign. The Silverstone outfit currently sits 10th in the constructors’ standings with three points, all earned by two-time champion Fernando Alonso. It arrived in 2026 with high expectations due to its new power unit partnership with Honda and its first car designed under the leadership of Adrian Newey.

But the first half of the season was plagued by major car and power unit issues until it introduced a B-spec car at the Hungarian Grand Prix and engine upgrades at the Dutch Grand Prix.

Despite the challenging start to the year, Coulthard is confident the Newey-led team will turn the corner.

“There is a momentum change. They’ve hit rock bottom,” Coulthard explained. “If we remind ourselves of McLaren, what was it three seasons ago? They were pretty much at their rock bottom, and then they’ve bounced back to being world champions.”

Lance Stroll, Aston Martin

Photo by: Eric Le Galliot

Former W Series driver and Sky Sports analyst Naomi Schiff, who co-hosts the Up To Speed podcast, added: “It’s a process of evolution at the moment for them, isn’t it? It’s all about learning. Zandvoort, the beginning of the weekend was looking a little like, ‘Oh, I guess we expected a little bit more from this,’ but it was a sprint weekend, so it’s a tough one to bring big upgrades and try to make changes and understand your package.

“They did make steps forward, and there were still some concerns. Obviously, the drivers both said that they were struggling with the downshifts and the driveability of the engine. And so, I’m sure they would have taken all that data home and made some amendments that we’re going to probably see in Monza.

“But Fernando did an incredible job to put that car in P9 [at the Dutch Grand Prix]. There were six DNFs, but when you look at the list of who didn’t finish, obviously Max [Verstappen] is in there, who would have probably been ahead of him, but the rest of them, you could debate whether they would have been there and thereabouts where he was.

“So you’ve got to give them some merit for that. I hope for them that it’ll continue moving forward because it’s been a bit of a bleak start.”