Aston Martin team boss Mike Krack says only a "small group" of engineers is still working on the development of its current AMR22 as the team's focus has switched to its 2023 car.
Aston's 2022 contender has benefitted from updates implemented during the first half of the season, starting with the significant package introduced by the team in Spain back in May.
But overall, the Silverstone-based squad has under-performed relative to its expectations under Formula 1's new regulations, a shortfall that has left the team a lowly ninth in the Constructors' standings, with Williams closing out the rankings.
And progress in the back half of the season may be hard to come by with Aston channeling almost all its resources towards its 2023 car.
©AstonMartin
"Although we must continue to improve the performance of the AMR22 and we have a small group of people still working on it, we’ve already turned our attention to the AMR23," said Krack, quoted by The Race.
"Our focus has been on AMR23 for a while now because the car needs to perform right out of the box.
"A new season and new car represent the biggest opportunity to move ahead of our competitors."
From a purely statistical perspective, Aston's results have been disappointing this season.
But Krack says there's more than meets the eye when it comes to assessing the team's performance, insisting the updates delivered to its AMR22 have been successful although "just not enough" for the team to move up the pecking order.
Krack also pointed to the design feat achieved by the team with the radical rear wing it showcased in Hungary last time out.
"We’ve been wrongly accused of copying this season, and the new rear wing we brought to the Hungarian Grand Prix underlined our ability to innovate and steal a march on the opposition by coming up with ideas our rivals haven’t," he said.
"A lot of people think it’s easy to just design a new wing, build it and put it on the car. But if you look at the wing, or any of the upgrades we bring to the car, the way they’re engineered, optimised, and produced, it’s an art form.
"Plus, you can’t just build one of them, you have to build three or four of the same specification to have enough for both cars and spares.
"We brought a major upgrade package to the Spanish Grand Prix – new sidepods, floor, engine cover, modifications to the front suspension – but to deliver enough parts in time so both cars could run in the latest specification…
"I’ve never seen anything like that. It was an extraordinary effort from everyone in the team."
Aston's performance this season has been marked by the stark contrast that exists between the AMR22's relatively weak qualifying pace and the car's reasonably good speed in race trim as its consistent run of top-ten finishes indicate.
Krack admits that the AMR22's single lap deficit is a head scratcher.
"Yeah, we're trying to understand it, honestly," he said. "Because if we knew why, then we will also try to change it. So it's something that we really need to understand, what makes this.
"And the best approach to understand this is you always have to refer to lap time difference to the cars, and not ranking. Because with the tight midfield, it's very, very often that if you get something wrong, you lose three or four positions.
"So if someone gets it really right, he gains three grid positions, or maybe even five or six, because the midfield is so tight. So it is very important to stay really objective, and really monitor the lap time difference that you're having.
"And then see where we have to improve. But it is clear that on Saturdays we struggle more than Sundays."
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