Aston Martin had the seventh car in the 2022 World Cup. It is fair to note that in the second half of the season they were clear sixth, ahead of an Alfa Romeo that barely added five points in the last 13 races. But the reality of Alonso’s new team is that: they are immersed in the middle zone with ambitions to lead it, a good base (fourth car in 2020 and they won a race as Racing Point) and an irregular last two seasons (seventh also in 2021). .
The AMR22 was not a bad car, appreciate the technical sources of the paddock. They lacked consistency, they fundamentally failed on Saturdays. On Sundays they defended a good race rhythm. His rear train is made in mercedes, subcontracted to the Brackley plant (permitted). Engine, gearbox and rear suspension generate a triangle with all the strong points of the green car: solid in traction, in the exits of the curves. In fact, it is far superior to Alpine and McLaren in that section and is even capable of rivaling some of the greats.
Its power unit is also reliable, it does not break: the two pilots completed the campaign with only three copies and without penalty. They finished the course closer to the head than they started it: In Q3 in Abu Dhabi, Vettel was 1.1 behind Verstappen (0.9 behind Pérez).
And that, in debit, the main weak point is the pace at one lap. Why? Chief Engineer Tom McCullough replies: “It’s a question we often ask ourselves. We suffered a lot in one lap, but we have done quite well managing the tires in the races.” The objective now is to manufacture an ‘off-road’ car. “We do a lot of analysis on our rear end or power limits. To understand the low and medium speed corners and to know what our weaknesses are for the 23 or 24 races of next year. We don’t have the fastest car on the straights and we lack in some areas as well. We want a complete car”, explains McCullough.
precedents The team intends to get closer to the top-4 manufacturers with Alonso and Stroll next year and that would mean fighting for sporadic podiums. Is it possible to star in such a big jump? Ferrari went from sixth to third between 2020 and 2021. McLaren was 9th in 2017, 6th in 2018, 4th in 2019 and 3rd in 2020. Prior to that, Mercedes went from 5th in 2012 to 2nd in 2013, before sweeping for eight years. No case is comparable, all have particularities. It is in the hands of the Aston Martin team, with the additions of Dan Fallows (ex Red Bull) and Eric Blandin (ex Mercedes), sign a single-seater of those that change the trend.