Aston Martin: Strong driver line-up key to understanding new tyres

Aston Martin chief technical officer Andy Green believes his team has a strong driver line-up in terms of talent with Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll, but the pair's experience will also prove crucial this season in understanding F1's new car and especially its tyres.

Vettel heads into his second season with Aston Martin, and by his own admittance, this year's campaign will be an important test for Team Silverstone whose performance in 2021 was weighed down by the outfit's lack of development.

Green says the four-time F1 world champion's presence has so far benefitted Aston both on and off the track.

"I think we have a really strong driver line-up," Green told the media at last week's launch of the team's 2022-spec AMR22.

"I'm really pleased that we retain the driver line-up across such a massive rule change, because I think that stability is really important.

"I think with Seb, we have a super, super talented, super experienced driver, who's helped us in many ways, on and off the track. I think his experience is going to be really useful.

"On the other hand, we have Lance," Green added. "He's 100 Grands Prix in now. He's super talented, he's super fast. He's gaining wisdom and experience with every race."

But beyond the individual skills of Aston's drivers, Green emphasizes the pair's experience on which the team will heavily rely at the outset to understand its new car, but also to get to grips with one of the most important elements of Formula 1's 2022 regulation overhaul: the move from 13-inch to 18-inch wheels and to Pirelli's new tyres.

"Both of them work really well with the engineering department, and that's key," explained Green.

"They work really well together, but they also work really well with the engineering department. And I think we're going to have to pull together in that area, because there's so much to learn with the new car.

• Read also: Vettel expecting 2022 to be 'true test' for Aston Martin

"Every aspect of it is new - the new aerodynamics, especially the tyres. The tyres are going to be a massive unknown to everybody.

"No one really knows what's going to happen with the tyres when we start running them.

"As much as we've done some testing pre-season in Abu Dhabi, or with all the in-season testing last year, nobody has run these tyres with a ground effect car.

"That's going to be a real challenge, and I think that's where a good driver pairing is going to really help."

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