MADRID, 13 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Aston Martin team hopes to be “more competitive” in this final stretch of the Formula 1 World Championship where circuits “with greater aerodynamic load” could favor it with a view to the goal of finishing second in the Constructors’ World Championship, while admitting that there is ” a higher level of anxiety” in a Grand Prix like this weekend’s Singapore because of everything that can happen.
“The objective is to try to return to second place in the Constructors’ World Championship. It is a brave objective, in the face of fierce competition. Mercedes has had a couple of strong events, Ferrari had its strongest of the year in Monza, its home race “We hope to be more competitive as we return to some of the more downforce tracks in the future,” admitted Tom McCullough, Aston Martin Performance Director, on the team’s website.
The engineer believes that “margins are good at this stage of the season” and that “now it comes down to who can bring a few more upgrades to the track and who can execute the best weekends, operationally and also from the racing side.” the pilots”.
In addition, he appreciates that they have scored in 16 consecutive weekends, “something difficult to do” and that leaves them with the conclusion that while they fight “against well-established teams”, in their case they are still in their “growth period” in many aspects. .
“To finish first, you have to finish first and reliability has been a strength of the team so far. Our points streak speaks to the execution of the team, of Lance (Stroll) and Fernando (Alonso). When the margins are so small in the search for points, a significant effort is needed to change the situation,” he added.
Tom McCullough makes it clear that they have been on “the same development path for 18 months” and that they “still” have new parts and that they will do so “until the end of the year.” In addition, he pointed out that “it is not so easy” to transport these parts when they are very long trips between races and that “sometimes, replacement parts for updated parts arrive even later.”
“IN SINGAPORE THERE IS A HIGHER LEVEL OF ANXIETY”
Regarding this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix, which could be well suited to the conditions of ‘AMR23’, he considers it “a unique challenge.” “And that brings a level of excitement, both from an engineering point of view and from the fan side. In Singapore, you never know when someone is going to hit the wall and bring out a yellow flag, red flag or a safety car. ; and therefore there is a higher level of anxiety in preparing for that,” he confessed.
“We have to plan ahead and we simulate what happens in the case of a safety car on every lap of the race. This is a race where safety car is common, so we always have to be prepared It is always easy to choose to enter the pits when there is one on the track and install new tires, but if you lose too many positions and cannot recover them, then it is a disaster,” explained the Briton.
In addition, the Aston Martin Performance Director recalled that the urban layout “has changed”. “Four low-speed corners have been removed from sector three, which will probably make things a little easier for the tyres. There are fewer braking and traction zones, they’ve removed four of those corners, so the tires will be in better condition. for the last curves,” he stressed.
Finally, McCullough referred to the adaptation to a night race like the one in Marina Bay and with the time change. “As it is a night race, we eat and sleep on European time in Singapore. Curfew times are based on those of the sessions, with FP2, qualifying and the race taking place at 20:00 (local time). We compensate everything to deal with this,” he said.
“The biggest challenge is returning to the hotel when it’s dawn. You don’t want to enjoy too much natural light before going to sleep, since all three sessions take place in the dark. In these scenarios, returning too late and walking back in daylight day, wreaks havoc on your sleep pattern,” he said.