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Aston Martin offers its first assessment of the upgraded Honda power unit Aston Martin left Saturday’s Dutch Grand Prix action with mixed feelings after Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll both failed to progress beyond Q1 in main qualifying, but the team remains encouraged by the significant progress made with its latest package and updated power unit. Alonso started the Sprint from the pit lane after Aston Martin made changes to his car overnight, with the team also successfully resolving the rear-wing issue that had affected his running on Friday. The Spaniard was able to make progress during the Sprint and enjoyed an entertaining battle with team-mate Stroll. Despite the improved package and the introduction of an updated power unit, however, Aston Martin could not translate its gains into a place in Q2. Alonso qualified 18th with a 1:13.650, while Stroll ended up 19th with a 1:13.818. The result was disappointing on paper, but Alonso believes the team has made meaningful progress compared with its recent form. “We were very close to getting into Q2 and more or less maximised what we had,” Alonso said. “We have work to do to improve the driveability of the car and to recover more lap time moving forward.” The two-time World Champion highlighted the improvement in Aston Martin’s outright pace, noting that the team is now much closer to the leading cars than it was only a few races ago. "All in all, I think we have to be happy to be 1.3 seconds from the leader in Q1, when just a few races ago we were on average 4 seconds adrift of the top teams,” Alonso added. The Spaniard will therefore head into Sunday’s Grand Prix with some optimism, particularly given Aston Martin’s belief that its race pace is stronger than its single-lap performance. Stroll experienced a similar struggle throughout Saturday, with the Canadian once again pointing to the car’s driveability and balance as areas requiring improvement. “We've struggled with similar issues today as we did yesterday,” Stroll explained. “There are improvements we need to make with the driveability and balance of the car, and that's where our focus needs to be.” The Canadian believes Aston Martin has a more competitive package over longer runs than its qualifying position suggests, although the team still needs to unlock more performance when the drivers are pushing for a single lap. "Our race pace seems to be better than our Qualifying pace,” Stroll said. “In Qualifying, we need to be able to push more to really attack the lap.” Team Principal Adrian Newey also struck a positive tone despite the double Q1 elimination. With the Dutch Grand Prix being a Sprint weekend, Aston Martin has had limited practice time to assess its latest developments, but Newey believes the additional running has nevertheless provided valuable information. “Despite the limited practice running of a Sprint event, the weekend so far has given us valuable track time to better understand the characteristics of our recent upgrades and the updated power unit,” Newey said. According to Newey, both drivers have reported clear improvements in the underlying chassis and aerodynamic performance of the AMR26. “Both drivers are reporting significant steps forward with the chassis and aero performance,” he added. The main weakness, however, remains the car’s driveability. Aston Martin believes addressing that issue could allow it to extract considerably more performance from the package. "The key takeaway is that we need to improve the drivability, and doing so will help us find more performance,” Newey explained. Aston Martin’s latest developments therefore appear to have delivered a genuine step forward, even if that improvement has yet to be reflected in its qualifying positions. Alonso and Stroll will start Sunday’s Dutch Grand Prix from 18th and 19th respectively, ahead of the two Cadillacs and Oliver Bearman’s Haas.