Formula 1 rivals' stream of "unlimited upgrades" to their cars in this phase of the 2026 season is a surprise to Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso - whose AMR26 is in a holding pattern right now.

The beleagured team, which now appears the clear straggler in F1's competitive order (having qualified four seconds off the ultimate pace at Barcelona), has preferred to tackle its issues in one big upgrade package in a few races' time rather than drip-feed chassis tweaks.

This is expected to go hand-in-hand with an upgrade to the Honda power unit, although chief trackside officer Mike Krack said during media day at the Austrian Grand Prix that the timing wouldn't necessarily be aligned.

"You can say we stand still," Krack also said. "We are not standing still because there is a lot of things that are going on beyond the [upgrade] declarations. But it is a fact that we have seen others moving on.

"But again, I said already in Spain that we have a leader that has taken the decision to do it like this. And it sounds repetitive, but if you take as a team a decision like that and you commit to it, you have to commit to it. Then we should also not complain every other week that we have these deficiencies, but you have to stick together and get the maximum out of it, and be prepared for better times."

The AMR26 is set to be unchanged until the Hungarian Grand Prix or the Dutch Grand Prix - either side of F1's summer break - according to Lance Stroll.

But Stroll's team-mate Alonso had some slightly curious, slightly contradictory things to say about the AMR26 upgrade plan during his own media appearance.

In separate answers Alonso both indicated that waiting until a big upgrade was "the right decision" but also that he "didn't agree" to it.

"But apparently there is no money to bring upgrades, unlimited upgrades like the other teams do!" he quipped.

"It is surprising to see the FIA page on Friday every race - because maybe they [other teams] have the money machine in the minus one [floor] in the factory."

Yet Alonso also insisted that he did not "question" the plan born out of a desire to spend the cost cap-limited allotment efficiently.

"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/error with some of the upgrades," he said.

"We took the first three or four races to really understand our weaknesses and our limitations, to start testing on the windtunnel solutions, to see also the other cars, what kind of solutions they implement and which ones are working.

"And when you take all that in the table, you start programming the upgraded package. And obviously it takes time. After missing Barcelona [the shakedown] and being in Bahrain with a bad first test and knowing our situation in Australia - which back then we didn't know if we could complete the race; that was the uncomfortable truth that we found in Australia - I think the decision was made and I think it's the right decision.

"For us, it doesn't change to bring three or four tenths [of performance] in a couple of grands prix and still [be] fighting at the back. So we need something bigger than that - and everyone in the factory is working flat-out. We need to give credit to them.

"We don't know yet the results and we don't see the results yet. But we cannot underestimate Aston Martin - as much as has been done [by others] in the last few weeks."

Timeline of 2027 decision

A decision over Alonso's continuity in F1 beyond this year is still pending - and Krack told media on Thursday that he felt Alonso was too fast to retire.

"I don't need Mike to tell me that I'm fast," Alonso responded. "I feel it every lap that I do on track and I've been feeling it always. Let's see; I have not taken any decision."

Alonso did all but dismiss any suggestion that he could continue in F1 away from Aston Martin, repeatedly emphasising his commitment to the team - and his plan to remain part of its grand prix project once he is done racing in F1.

"I will wait until probably summer break, which is August," he said of his decision timeline. "After summer is Zandvoort, Monza - I think around that time I will probably decide what to do next year.

"I will keep racing [somewhere] because I'm feeling fast and I feel motivated and I love what I do. I will not stop now because I don't feel uncompetitive or that I don't enjoy racing. If I race in Formula 1 or not, that's a different story; I need to enjoy the category and the feeling of driving these power units and these regulations, and these kinds of things.

"There are many factors to put in place and there are many options to race in the world of motorsport.

"I still love F1. I'm committed to this team also. So even if I don't race, my commitment with the team and with the project is the same."

He said it was "difficult to say" right now what his next series might be if he does move on from F1 - but name-checked Aston Martin's Valkyrie, which is competing in the World Endurance Championship's Hypercar class, the Dakar Rally and other rallying, and Formula E with its upcoming Gen4 car "with four-wheel drive, it seems quite fast from the test they did".