The Aston Martin team has made no secret of the fact that its weaker performance this season is a result of the rule changes introduced prior to the current Formula One season. Team owner Lawrence Stroll tells us more.

"It's a very controversial year with the aerodynamics rules because of the cut in the bottom. I think everyone is smart enough to figure out through their own simulations and calculations that the two cars with a low slope - us and Mercedes - lost about a second per lap", Stroll said on Motorsport-Total.com.

Depending on the length of the track, the figure was slightly lower or higher, but the correlation was clear. "It's no coincidence that all of a sudden Mercedes has to fight for a world championship that they won effortlessly in previous years. Unfortunately, the same thing happened to us with the changes in the regulations", the team owner continued.

Changes to the floor a disadvantage

Most of the regulations are the same as last year, but the FIA decided to make changes to the floor of the car for safety reasons. A cut-out triangle at the rear was to reduce downforce, as tyre manufacturer Pirelli feared that the tyres would be overloaded.

"I don't want to go into more detail about why they changed the rules, but it affected us and Mercedes. I think that's the reason for the weaker performance this year", said Stroll. Aston Martin is currently only seventh in the constructors' championship.