Aston Martin with a B-spec? These teams did too

According to the latest rumours, Aston Martin may well come out with a brand new car in Spain. It used to be the most normal thing in the world for a team to come up with a new chassis during the season, but these days it hardly ever happens. GPblog.com looked at the last five teams to do so.

2006 - Super Aguri SA06

Super Aguri started in 2006 with the SA05. A car based on an old Arrows A23 from 2002! 11 Grands Prix held out with this chassis, but no points were scored. From the twelfth race that year the team continued with the SA06. With it Takuma Sato scored a tenth place in the last race of the year. Now that would be good for the last World Championship point, but in 2006 only the first eight drivers received points.

2006 - Toyota TF106B

In 2006, Toyota scored points only twice in the first six races. Despite a podium by Ralf Schumacher in Australia, that was not good enough. In Monaco, the Japanese team, therefore, came out with a new car. The team did not see the podium again that year, but more consistent points were scored with the car's B-spec.

2007 - Spyker F8-VIIB

Spyker only ran one season in F1 and it was not a year to write home about. After a disappointing first six months, in which driver Christijan Albers was fired, the team arrived in Italy with a B-spec of the F8-VII. There were still five races to go, but Adrian Sutil made sure in Japan that Spyker wouldn't disappear from F1 without a point. He finished eighth, good for one World Championship point at the time.

2008 - Toro Rosso STR3

In 2008, Toro Rosso drove their first five races with a 2007 chassis. From Monaco, the team finally had the new car at its disposal. Sebastian Vettel in particular got on well with the new car. In the thirteen races he drove with it, he scored nine points. The highlight of that season was of course his sensational victory in Italy. Of the 39 points that season, Toro Rosso scored 37 with the STR3.

2015 - Force India VJM08B

After eight races in which barely any points were scored, Force India came to Britain with a brand new chassis. This proved to be a golden move for the Indian team. In the first eight races, Force India scored 31 points. In the following eleven races, the team scored a whopping 105 points, with a podium in Russia by Sergio Perez as the highlight.

The new car ensured that Force India rose above itself. The relatively small team finished in a neat fifth place among the constructors in 2015.

2022 - Aston Martin AMR22B?

The last five times teams came out with a new chassis during a season were generally successes. Each team improved, as the lessons from the first car were carried over into car number two of the year. It will not be an easy task for Aston Martin, because, unlike their predecessors, the British team is very limited by the budget ceiling. Whether Aston Martin will actually bring a B-spec to Spain remains to be seen.