Aston Martin dampers: spotting the fault

Mercedes and Ferrari didn’t make sense for a long time. The top two teams showed inconsistent form in six races. The constant behind Red Bull has been Aston Martin. Fernando Alonso has finished on the podium five times. And once he missed the third place by only 0.8 seconds.

In Barcelona, ​​the podium was suddenly 31 seconds away. Aston Martin had to queue up behind Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari. Alonso didn’t have a reason ready after the race. Just that much: “We didn’t have the speed. Both on the soft and hard tyres. There was no strategy that would push us forward today.”

Traffic is no excuse

The sixth and eighth on the grid certainly didn’t help, but they were no excuse. Sergio Pérez and George Russell started the race from poorer starting positions and finished ahead of the two green cars. Not through smarter strategy, but through better racing pace.

There were more explanations on Saturday. Alonso might have been second on the grid had it not been for the underbody damage and error at Turn 10 on a last-lap KO. Both together cost about seven-tenths. But even then, his racing Aston Martin was not faster.

Russell held off Fernando Alonso after just seven laps. On lap 31, Pérez passed him. Perhaps this would have happened to him if he had started from the front row, only later in the race. “It was difficult to keep Mercedes behind us even if we had started on top. They were six to seven tenths faster than us,” admitted team boss Mike Crack.

Tire wear is greater than expected

Lance Stroll had a clear view to the front most of the time, thus the best conditions. Ultimately he finished six seconds ahead of Esteban Ocon. And Alpine has never been an opponent for a third world championship. Alonso tried to escape traffic with a late stop. When he was finally on his own, the lap times dropped to a decent level, but it wasn’t enough to make up any significant ground.

Immediately after the race, neither Krack nor the drivers had an explanation for this slump: “We have to understand why that was the case.” Especially in the tire parade system, which has always been the trump card for green cars in the first six races. “Our tire wear was more than expected. Because the cars around us didn’t have these problems, we had to investigate what the problem was,” Stroll admitted.

There have been many theories on this subject, but there is no explanation yet. Was it the track planning that was to blame, the upgrade or car setup, or did the opponents take a bigger step in their new developments? Alonso could only offer guesses: “Perhaps many factors come into play together. The track wasn’t ideal for us. It took a long Friday before we were satisfied with the car. And upgrades from our competitors may have their potential now only on offer.”

Bad Friday receipt

Friday set the tone for the rest of the weekend for many teams. Those who had problems matching car setup, Pirelli tire tests and data collection for new paid spare parts on Saturday and Sunday.

This didn’t just happen with Aston Martin. Things didn’t go well at Ferrari either. On the other hand, Mercedes managed the turnaround. Perhaps also because both drivers were deliberately sent onto the track with alternate settings in order to draw the right conclusions.

Tom McCullough, Aston Martin’s chief engineer, admitted: “We didn’t get into our usual cadence on Friday. We lost a lot of time in beta tests for our updates and for Pirelli. In addition, the new track required a different setup” than before. We had hoped to catch up on Saturday but then rain got in the way and washed out the green course again. When things get close, you end up at the other end of your group.”

Promotion in Montreal

Both drivers had a feeling that their car was more than their lap times showed. In the race, the unimproved setup meant that the Aston Martin AMR23’s tire-slick handling came off the joint. “Depending on the temperature, sometimes the same type of tire worked better, sometimes less,” team manager Mike Crack said in amazement.

Luxemburger saw neither a turn around nor a defeat in the result. You always have to be clear about the team’s provenance. The fact that you managed to keep the lead of Mercedes and Ferrari for six races is also due to the fact that the heavyweights rarely got into shape. “We shouldn’t be too disappointed with the result. Despite the problems, we still scored solid points.”

The team from Silverstone lost 19 points to Mercedes and won four with Ferrari. Albin, who is already fifth, is 94 points behind. And in Montreal, Aston Martin wants to attack again. The biggest upgrade of the entire season is set to come in Canada. After the wings got new shapes in Monte Carlo and Barcelona, ​​it should now be the turn of the lower body.

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