Aston Martin: 'We've sacrificed this year for 2022'

While Racing Point were able to fight for third place in the championship last year, the team has had to take a step back this year. According to Otmar Szafnauer, the Aston Martin team boss, this season has been sacrificed for 2022.

Despite its limited financial resources, the Aston Martin team, formerly known as Racing Point and Force India, has always done good business over the past few years. This season is however a setback for the team, especially with the new name sponsor and the arrival of four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel.

According to team boss Otmar Szafnauer, this year's car has been sacrificed in order to be able to start at full speed in 2022. "We had to change the development to 2022, because otherwise it would have also affected our next season," the team boss told the press, including Motorsport-Total.com.

Painful new rules

The current season hasn't gone particularly well for Aston Martin. Together with Mercedes the car is suffering from the changes in the regulations. These are detrimental for cars with a long wheelbase, which Aston Martin and Mercedes both fall under.

According to Szafnauer, it would have been unrealistic to climb back up the rankings with 'limited resources' while developing the car for 2022. That's why the team decided early on this season to focus all its attention on next season, when major rule changes are. Aston Martin are not alone, Haas also decided to skip the development of the current car before the start of the season.