Aston Martin has been one of the big disappointments at the start of the season in F1. During the pre-season tests, news was leaking out about the upgrades to the AMR25, real improvements over the AMR24, but insufficient to fight for leadership in the midfield, as was initially expected.
Andy Cowell, CEO of Aston Martin, admitted that the failures detected in the Bahrain tests and in the first two races, which were sold as performance aspects that Aston Martin did not want to exploit, were errors that they had not yet been able to solve and that they knew would affect the start of the season. However, the data collected in these first months, and after these two weeks of rest, seems to have helped find the first solutions that should be seen in this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix.
Bad start for Aston Martin
Aston Martin were aware that they would not start the season as they wanted, but they were not aware that the start would be so disastrous. Firstly, there was the mistake made by Fernando Alonso in the Australian GP, when he failed to gauge the consequences of the gravel on the track, causing him to crash into the wall. In the second race, it was reliability that took its toll on the Spaniard, who lost his wheels in the first few corners of the race.
Although the Spaniard, the team’s mainstay, has not started as expected, the team has been able to breathe a little easier thanks to Stroll, who achieved an important sixth place in Australia, thanks to the rain, and a tenth place in China thanks to the disqualification of the Ferraris and Gasly. But the truth is that his car was not up to these positions.
Changes at Aston Martin
Another aspect that has influenced Aston Martin is the changes that have taken place within the team, both in terms of personnel and structure. These changes have been delayed for longer than expected and have been a hindrance to the proper development of the AMR25. The last to arrive have been Adrian Newey and the wind tunnel.
The pieces of the puzzle are in place and all that remains is to fit them together bit by bit until the best results are achieved, more focused on next season, but which will also have an influence on this season. And those changes should already be having an effect on this weekend’s race.
Aston Martin improvements for Japan
After the first two races of the season, plus the Bahrain tests, Aston Martin already has enough information to improve the configuration of the car. Add to this the two weeks’ break, and the natural evolution and development that is taking place at Silverstone with the new management team and the new technological tools, and the result is the first improvements in Aston Martin’s performance.
Adrian Newey has been in charge of supervising the data collected and analyzing it taking into account the structure of the AMR25, and has given direct instructions to carry out changes in the settings that should allow Aston Martin to improve the bad start to the season. We shouldn’t expect miracles, there are no new parts, but there is a new way of understanding how the car behaves and which settings are best suited to its characteristics.
Aston Martin hasn’t had the best start to the season, but the circumstances surrounding the team have had a negative influence on getting the best out of the AMR25. With the season already underway and the changes from the Silverstone factory implemented, improvements should follow one race after another. But the definitive step for Aston Martin will be when the new parts are ready, which are expected for the arrival of F1 in Europe on May 18th.