Jambier wrote: ↑21 Jul 2023, 23:58
max_speed wrote: ↑21 Jul 2023, 19:23
There will no hiding place after this race. Better if they have got some extra in belly or downtrend will be confirmed. Hype and early season aura of dan follows will soon be fading away.
Indeed
This is THE track of truth.
They will have to be at Canada level OR season is finished
An argument can be made for them not being as competitive in Canada as they looked. Ferrari qualy blunder meant they had to be on the alternative 1 stop strategy which meant they were pretty much out of contention for a podium, although pretty quick in the race. AMR were only marginally quicker than MB (IIRC) and rear limited circuits have been MB weakness since the inception of the W13.
I'm not that in tune with Aston Martin as a team, but surely the upgrades introduced at Canada did not go as planned. My reading of the situation is they tried to drop some the drag and ended up losing too much downforce in the process. This is a really tough balancing act. Ferrari struggled with this, Mercedes struggled with this, I believe Aston Martin are now struggling to find the balance in this regard. I also believe McLaren, who are super quick in the high speed sections but on the draggy side will struggle with this. I believe I've said this before in this thread but only Red Bull have really nailed this. On the other hand you have Williams trying to gain downforce without sacfricing too much drag.