Aston Martin is reportedly facing a “very, very serious winter” that may draw attention if the team fails to make up lost ground with the AMR24.
Aston Martin and Fernando Alonso have been the city’s communicators in the most important part of this year’s championship, as the Spaniard and his new team have scored six podiums in the first 8 races, adding up to a run of 3 at the start of the season.
Red Bull’s closest competitor in a car that bore a striking resemblance to the RB19 and featured former Red Bull driver Dan Fallows, Aston Martin P2 in the constructors’ championship before the decline began.
Losing ground to Mercedes, Ferrari and later McLaren, as all three made great strides with their upgrades, Aston Martin went in the opposite direction.
The team’s deputy technical director, Eric Blandin, admits: “Our simulation teams guided us in a safe direction on the aerodynamic side and we followed a path that just wasn’t the right one. “
Aston Martin has tried to rectify this with its update to the United States Grand Prix, but there has been no sign of progress, at least from the outside.
Neither driver has been in the top ten in the standings in the last two races, although Lance Stroll’s seventh-place finish in the United States was his only point as the drivers recorded a double retirement in Mexico.
Appearing on the On Track GP podcast, 2015 Le Mans LMP2 winner Richard Bradley believes Aston Martin will face a long and difficult winter.
“They’re going to have a very, very serious winter, in a different way, I think a lot of other people will spin their heads and get a couple of P45s,” he said.
And he believes that progressing, especially if Aston Martin has turned the philosophy around with the car, is going to be very difficult.
“They have to,” he said. But then again, next year’s adjustments are so dramatic, so how much do you really come up with?
“If you’ve followed a path with a philosophy, unless you absolutely replace your philosophy and then you have all the disorders that come with learning that, to be so bad at this point, you’ve been given great disorders. “
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Bradley believes Aston Martin’s existing injury will continue at the next race in Brazil, where once back the AMR23’s cooling will be put to the test.
“In terms of retirements, Brazil is another circuit that is at altitude, so if it has anything to do with cooling, then they are going to have big problems. In addition, Brazil has a much lower average speed, so less cooling.
“So I’m wondering if they’re going to have a double retirement next weekend as well,” he said.
Second in the initial standings, Aston Martin is fifth with 3 races remaining, 20 behind McLaren.
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