Every minute of work counts in Formula 1 if you want to gain a tenth in the race. That is what they must be thinking at Aston Martin, who are convinced of their potential and are not willing to waste a moment in order to give Fernando Alonso a car with enough performance to compete with the best.
Aston Martin’s feelings
Aston Martin’s results in the first race leave many questions unanswered. The car performed very well at times, and erratically at others, and now we have to understand the data. The pace of the car was competitive, but in qualifying, it is not clear why the car performed in one way in Q1 and 15 minutes later, in Q2, it performed differently. Andy Cowell, CEO of Aston Martin, assessed how the weekend went.
“It may be that in the first two sectors the car was stronger and then lost out in the third, or it may be that we are using the tires excessively, or it may be related to the characteristics of this car. It is something we are trying to figure out at the moment.”
“In Q1 there were good sectors and then in Q2, less. We need to understand why. Fernando’s pace in the five laps prior to the accident was very competitive to the point that we decided to push. So there is performance in the car.”
Analyzing the data from Australia
Andy Cowell confirmed that he is separating himself from the team during the week: while the bulk of the team travels directly from Australia to Shanghai to prepare for the Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix, the CEO took a plane to Silverstone to analyze the data from the AMR25 on the same Monday.
“We do a mix, from Monday I will be at the factory to talk about the areas we will focus on to find more performance. Whether it’s performance, reliability or procedural problems, there are details we can improve on.
Every minute counts when it comes to improving the car, and the factory is doing everything necessary to optimize the AMR25. In this sense, the data obtained from the race is key to ensuring that the development is as optimal as possible.
“They are working on developments to improve throughout the season.“ ‘There are developments we are working on right now. We all have limitations of CFD, wind tunnel and expenditure ceiling and it is a challenge of what to do and where to invest to develop the car.”
He confirms that ’there is performance in the car,” so every second in the factory analyzing data is key to getting the best car possible for the season.
Options in the Chinese F1 GP
The Chinese Grand Prix is the first “real” test of the season. Australia was marked by bad weather and a rain race. In China it will be dry, and the real position of each team and the real options of the drivers can be measured more accurately. Despite the rain, low temperatures are expected, and the variety presented by the Chinese GP makes it a challenge, especially for the tires, one of Aston Martin’s weak points in 2024.
“China is another challenge, plus it looks like the weather will be cold and there is a wide spectrum of corner types. We will try to put in order our learning from the weekend and review the optimization of the car for China.”
At Aston Martin they are not resting with the aim of giving Fernando Alonso a car that will allow him to fight with the big guns on the grid. The Chinese Grand Prix is a litmus test for the Silverstone team, and after the Spaniard’s retirement in the last race, it is a good barometer to measure Fernando Alonso’s options for the season, but mainly for this start of the campaign.