2023 Aston Martin | Aramco | Cognizant F1 Team

[organic]

So far AMR brought a new floor, new sidepods, new front wing , right?

To me that is pretty significant amount of upgrades by Silverstone. Similar to # by Ferrari, RB, Merc

If I'm not wrong, RB has updated their sidepods 2 times this season. And that is despite the Wind Tunnel penalty. Merc completely changed the philosophy of their car. In comparison, I don't feel we have done much, especially considering the wind tunnel advantage, and Fallows saying at the start of the season, that it's a solid base from where they can develop the car forward.

Merc and RB are running launch spec floors however..

[KimiRai]

Alonso:

"2023 is a great learning year for Aston Martin because we have found a car that is above what we thought in terms of performance and we are not yet a team to be in the Champions League. We need more resources here, less there, another rate of evolution, maybe.

You have to strengthen the team in certain areas to be as big as Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull. It's a very interesting year in that regard, we can still grow as a team twice as fast as we thought thanks to the fact that the car is so strong.

We have postponed the decision of my continuity to the summer of 2024. If it were now the summer of next year, I would tell you that I am interested in seeing what happens in 2025, we are going to have a new wind tunnel at Aston Martin and there are things that are appealing, that are attractive, and I now feel strong and energetic. Traveling and training do not weigh me down, I am looking forward to it."

I believe he will most likely stay for 2026. The scope of his words feels to point that way among other things.

[alonsofan]

Alonso:

"2023 is a great learning year for Aston Martin because we have found a car that is above what we thought in terms of performance and we are not yet a team to be in the Champions League. We need more resources here, less there, another rate of evolution, maybe.

You have to strengthen the team in certain areas to be as big as Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull. It's a very interesting year in that regard, we can still grow as a team twice as fast as we thought thanks to the fact that the car is so strong.

We have postponed the decision of my continuity to the summer of 2024. If it were now the summer of next year, I would tell you that I am interested in seeing what happens in 2025, we are going to have a new wind tunnel at Aston Martin and there are things that are appealing, that are attractive, and I now feel strong and energetic. Traveling and training do not weigh me down, I am looking forward to it."

I believe he will most likely stay for 2026. The scope of his words feels to point that way among other things.

I hope he's as fast as he is now by then.

[Alonso Fan]

Alonso:

"2023 is a great learning year for Aston Martin because we have found a car that is above what we thought in terms of performance and we are not yet a team to be in the Champions League. We need more resources here, less there, another rate of evolution, maybe.

You have to strengthen the team in certain areas to be as big as Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull. It's a very interesting year in that regard, we can still grow as a team twice as fast as we thought thanks to the fact that the car is so strong.

We have postponed the decision of my continuity to the summer of 2024. If it were now the summer of next year, I would tell you that I am interested in seeing what happens in 2025, we are going to have a new wind tunnel at Aston Martin and there are things that are appealing, that are attractive, and I now feel strong and energetic. Traveling and training do not weigh me down, I am looking forward to it."

I believe he will most likely stay for 2026. The scope of his words feels to point that way among other things.

Hell stay even if next year's car is only as good as this year's. As long as he feels loved and respected in the team and he feels his opinion is being listened to. Unless ofc a no brainier seat turns up at rb or merc

[LookingGlass]

I do believe the tyre change isn't helping and likely wasn't favorable to Aston but before then it was obvious they were not progressing at the same rate as other teams, namely McLaren. Seeing how RB struggled to dial in the new upgrades over the weekend before figuring it out on raceday, I've been musing over other possibilities, mostly leading back to the outsourcing due to the new factory/facilities transition. I don't believe the engineers forgot how to do their job, they simply can't implement upgrades as effectively as it is taking longer and costing more not able to keep it in house.

[selvam_e2002]

They may be used all the wind tunnel time at the start of the year to come with decent car. They may be trying different thing in this year car to have good car for 2024 as they don't want to wast wind tunnel time for 2024 in season. The car going to be same till 2025. They have huge gap to alpine. If they finish 5th, I believe they did good job compared to last year. I definitely believe the AM team the way they are cooking thinks is more interesting. They are not even worried about what is happening now and even Stroll or Alonso not concerned about it. So they have some vision for 2024 car. else by this time Stroll SR would have raised concern now. it is all quite so I bet storm is coming in 2024.

[Farnborough]

I do believe the tyre change isn't helping and likely wasn't favorable to Aston but before then it was obvious they were not progressing at the same rate as other teams, namely McLaren. Seeing how RB struggled to dial in the new upgrades over the weekend before figuring it out on raceday, I've been musing over other possibilities, mostly leading back to the outsourcing due to the new factory/facilities transition. I don't believe the engineers forgot how to do their job, they simply can't implement upgrades as effectively as it is taking longer and costing more not able to keep it in house.

It looks the same to me in regard to change in tyre construction. The teams that were very good with tyre life in races AM, RB, now appear to have moved into a situation that gives difficulty in getting the tyre going for qualifying.

They can't change anything of significance between qualifying and race start, subject to Parc Fermè rules. But it shows the decision making RB say they take, set the cars up for the race pace, tyre life etc. Then accept it as that which is definitely a compromise for qualifying and the need to get the tyre hot very quickly.
Other teams appeared to do the opposite, set up for qualifying glory and then suffer in the race with tyres and ultimately pace.

The AM doesn't look substantially different in pace throughout qualifying to the lead RB than it has all year. Other teans have jumped into that gap that now gives them track position and race strategy advantage. How to now contain that is the problem AM face.

[diffuser]

I remember from the factory build that it came with 2 new carbon fiber cookers but were gonna send the 2 they already had to be refurbished, not sure how long that will take. Point is they need 4 cookers, have 2 new ones but have been using 2 that needed upgrading. Might explain low number of upgraded parts?

[KimiRai]

They are not even worried about what is happening now and even Stroll or Alonso not concerned about it. So they have some vision for 2024 car. else by this time Stroll SR would have raised concern now.

You can also say it's just damage control and it could perfectly be. But yes I disagree with the idea that suddenly the team forgot how to build an F1 car.

[peewon]

I do believe the tyre change isn't helping and likely wasn't favorable to Aston but before then it was obvious they were not progressing at the same rate as other teams, namely McLaren. Seeing how RB struggled to dial in the new upgrades over the weekend before figuring it out on raceday, I've been musing over other possibilities, mostly leading back to the outsourcing due to the new factory/facilities transition. I don't believe the engineers forgot how to do their job, they simply can't implement upgrades as effectively as it is taking longer and costing more not able to keep it in house.

I think Aston had lost significant ground when other teams came with their updates. I really dont think tyres played that significant a role. Ferrari was quicker on one lap but slower in race pace due to tyre wear. As soon as they fixed that with upgrades, they were quicker. Merc and Mclaren were immediately quicker after their upgrades. Spain is a good example pre tyre change. Also, if you notice pre tyre change they were banking on it being track specific performance deficit which got shut down in Hungary.

Like you, I too had been mulling over other possibilities like the factory change but honestly, that doesnt pass the smell test. For one, they did bring upgrades. They just didn't improve them at all. For me the first red flag was when Fallows complained about the ruleset as being restrictive in the F1 podcast.

https://www.racefans.net/2023/04/26/fal ... formula-1/

Contrast with someone like Newey who said he thought it was restrictive at first but digging deeper, he found tons of room to innovate

https://www.planetf1.com/news/adrian-ne ... n-changes/

Its an insight into the mind of the men leading their respective projects. One clearly has a vision to pursue while the other is struggling to find it. I think AM are struggling at a conceptual level of the car and it remains to be seen if they can have a breakthrough again.

[organic]

Mark Hughes mentions in The Race's post-race Hungary podcast that Aston Martin have a large upgrade planned for Zandvoort. It came to light out of a conversation Hughes had with Mike Krack apparently. Maybe some corrective measures for the Canada package too

[KimiRai]

Mark Hughes mentions in The Race's post-race Hungary podcast that Aston Martin have a large upgrade planned for Zandvoort. It came to light out of a conversation Hughes had with Mike Krack apparently.

Yes, spanish sources also say something important will come to Zandvoort. It's the same source who also predicted late 2022 that Aston would massively improve next year. But like Krack has always said we should never dream so let's wait and be careful.

[issey]

Yes big update will come after the summer break:

[peewon]

Mark Hughes mentions in The Race's post-race Hungary podcast that Aston Martin have a large upgrade planned for Zandvoort. It came to light out of a conversation Hughes had with Mike Krack apparently.

Yes, spanish sources also say something important will come to Zandvoort. It's the same source who also predicted late 2022 that Aston would massively improve next year. But like Krack has always said we should never dream so let's wait and be careful.

The 'large' update here could refer to no. of parts being modified. So the sources can be accurate but it doesn't automatically mean they will work or bring enough performance to challenge or surpass Ferrari, Merc or McL. The offseason speculation was based on wind tunnel and simulation numbers and apparently AM staff couldn't help but leak them. Does this say anything bout performance or data?

[KimiRai]

Maybe some corrective measures for the Canada package too

Apparently it was already planned before the performance slump so no.