Prime Tire Newsletter | This is The Athletic’s F1 newsletter. Sign up here to receive Prime Tire directly in your inbox twice a week during the season and weekly in the offseason.Welcome back to Prime Tire, where today I’m thinking about the biggest story so far at the 2026 Hungarian Grand Prix: Aston Martin’s new car.But before I get to that, a quick ask today: If you know someone who could use more free, accessible F1 coverage, please forward this email their way.I’m Alex, and Luke Smith will be along later.Decisions: Can F1 give Alonso the adrenaline he wants?It’s a big weekend in F1.Most of the paddock is looking forward to summer vacations, with the mandatory factory shutdown period just around the corner. George Russell urgently needs to hit back in the intra-Mercedes title fight. And Aston Martin has, essentially, a new car in Budapest.It’s considered a new car because of just how many parts the team has changed since Spa on July 5. So much work had to be done. Aston’s mechanics had to break the curfew conditions for team staff last night to get its two cars ready for today’s practice (this is allowed if necessary).Almost every area of the AMR26 has been refined or lightened. And I want to know what this means for Aston star driver Fernando Alonso.The green team’s struggles are already horribly familiar for Alonso this year, particularly as its first Honda engine has been largely off the pace of the leaders. But Honda will be unleashing its first upgraded engine at Zandvoort in late August.With major car updates coming in two parts, it will be difficult to gauge how successful Aston’s aerodynamic work is in Hungary: The car is still being held back by the Honda engine’s lack of internal combustion power grunt and its weak engine electrical deployment.But it’s still a big moment for Aston.