Aston Martin chief: 'Want to get as close to Red Bull as possible'

F1 News

aston martin over gap with red bull
6 April at 14:14
Last update 6 April at 15:24
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  • GPblog.com

Aston Martin is the surprise in Formula 1 in 2023. The team built a great car last winter and is currently second in the championship, trailing only Red Bull Racing after the British team finished seventh in the championship last year.

Aston Martin have scored a podium in every race, with Fernando Alonso finishing third each time. Especially in the race, the AMR23 seems very competitive, with the car having good downforce and handling the Pirelli tyres well. There only seems to be one big weakness compared to Red Bull, however, and that is top speed.

Different rear wings?

Especially on the straights, the Aston Martin struggles. The RB19 especially has a huge advantage when the DRS is activated. Aston Martin's performance director Tom McCullough says at Motorsport.com that it will be difficult to match these speeds because of the budget cap.

“I can't stress the cost cap thing enough. It's very easy to sit and say: I'll make seven or eight different rear wings to be globally optimised for qualifying with DRS and racing. But to do that is quite difficult when you are in a cost cap environment.”

'Develop the hell out of this car'

Aston Martin has achieved a unique feat, but the director of performance at Aston Martin speaks out that the team's ambitions are even higher. He has indicated that they will do everything they can to catch up with Red Bull. “Our aim is to develop the hell out of this car and get as close as we can to them. But they are not going to stand still. They have a good margin, especially over one lap with how fast their car is."