Aston Martin remains confident in its ability to challenge Red Bull’s supremacy in Formula 1 with the help of a robust development programme.
Last year, the Silverstone-based outfit – supported by the valiant efforts of the always young Fernando Alonso – emerged as a surprise top-three contender from the outset.
However, the team’s momentum waned in the early summer as the development of its AMR23 kicked off in earnest, a weakness that ultimately dropped Aston down to fifth place in F1’s Constructors’ standings by the end of the season.
The team has started its 2024 campaign in the same position but has emphasized that its new AMR24 has been designed with a focus on long-term development, as Aston Martin performance director Tom McCullough explained.
“I think everyone can be caught up. If you look at the development we saw at McLaren last season, it was really impressive,” commented the British engineer.
“That’s been the focus over the winter, to create a good platform for us to develop. We don’t want to stand still, nobody stands still.”
Compared to Red Bull, McCullough notes that Aston Martin is still in the early days of its build-up phase as a team, having moved just last year into its new headquarters at Silverstone, with more infrastructure set to come online.
“Red Bull doesn’t have our development time in the wind tunnel,” he said.
“They are obviously a very big and greased team, with a lot of people who have been in a strong position for a long time.
“We are still growing, learning to work together, with a new factory, new facilities, new wind tunnel up and running, new simulator, a lot of things have been happening lately, but we want to develop this car a lot.”
In Saudi Arabia, Alonso reckoned that Aston Martin needed “two or three tenths” to keep pace with its McLaren and Mercedes rivals.
"We still miss maybe two or three tenths compared to McLaren and Mercedes, and we will keep chasing that kind of performance," said the Spaniard. "It is challenging, but it's a nice challenge and an interesting season ahead."
McCullough is confident that sustained and swift development achieved by leveraging its tools should carry Aston forward.
“We have already brought some parts to Jeddah that have been a good step forward for the car,” he explained. “We never run the same specification from race to race, very rarely.
“And at the moment, we’re at that stage where we can develop well with our development tools.
“So it’s about bringing those parts to the track as quickly as we can, [and] hopefully the car will continue to improve.”
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