At Aston Martin they have reason to be concerned after a poor start to the season. After the first two races of the year, in Australia and China, the team has only been able to score 10 points thanks to Stroll’s fifth place in the first race, well below expectations, and aware that this result was due to the rain in the first race, which caused unexpected changes in the classification.
Aston Martin improves, but not enough
The AMR25 is a better car than last year, as demonstrated by the times, the telemetry, and as stated by the drivers themselves, Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll. But the truth is that these improvements are far from the team’s objectives, which is to take a step forward. The two retirements of Alonso, one due to a mistake by the driver and the other due to a mistake by the team, have left Stroll alone against the danger. He was able to scrape a fifth place in Australia thanks to the weather, but he was unable to score in China in dry conditions and despite the disqualification of Ferrari and Pierre Gasly at the end of the race.
It is important to point out that Aston Martin is not far from the middle of the pack, far from it, it is a question of tenths, even hundredths. Such is the equality that a minimal improvement can make you climb several places in the classification. This is what Fernando Alonso said after the Chinese race.
“The good thing is that the team that brings two or three tenths of an improvement is not going to gain two or three places. It will gain eight“. ”I have hope in that. We will try to bring something in every grand prix”.
Improvements for Aston Martin
The truth is that the improvements will still be a few weeks away, until the 18th of May. That weekend the first race of the season on European soil will take place in Italy, where the Imola F1 GP will be held. In addition, it is not just a simple improvement to the car that is expected, but a very broad package of improvements that could mean a significant change for Aston Martin’s aspirations.
If the supposed improvements that this package will bring are confirmed, and taking into account Fernando Alonso’s statements, the AMR25 could take a significant leap forward in its aspirations in this championship, and could even fight, if the race circumstances are right, for a place in the top five.
Aston Martin has just unveiled its own facilities and technology to implement the improvements, such as the wind tunnel, and hours have also been set aside for the development of the AMR25. In addition, the presence of Adrian Newey is key to these improvements. Although the engineer is more focused on next season’s car, he is overseeing the developments that will be implemented this season, so Aston Martin is expected to take an important step forward.
An eye on the competition
It is important to point out that Aston Martin will not be the only team to bring improvements for the Imola race. Historically, most teams incorporate their first package of improvements in the first race in Europe, so we can expect this to happen again this season. So the difference will be in seeing who gets it right with the new package. Remember that Aston Martin implemented many new parts last year, but far from improving, they made the AMR24 worse. So we’ll have to see if this time Aston Martin has found the key to increasing their options.
Therefore, we will have to wait just under 2 months to see what new improvements Aston Martin has made and to see if they can really place themselves at the head of the midfield and get close to the top of the F1 World Championship.