Alonso’s Aston Martin new things in Barcelona

Aston Martin continues to do its thing. Without worrying about the improvements brought by his rivals Ferrariwith important news on Spainand Mercedeswith a new package released MonacoThe group of Silverstone He remains focused on his own work plan amid the evolutionary race of single-seaters ahead of two of the most powerful teams: Ferrari and Mercedes. Those in green opted for continuous development, with news in many races, rather than a big package of improvements in specific appointments. and continue on the Barcelona plan, together more new elements for the car of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll.

Mike Krack, Aston Martin Team Principal, said a few weeks ago that they will bring “some new parts to Baku, Imola, Montreal and some to Silverstone, but we will bring every little increment as soon as it is ready instead to wait to group everything together. in big packages. It’s a strategy that worked well for us last year.” In Baku, they debuted the new rear wing with improved DRS and plan to bring more improvements to Imola. However, the Italian event was canceled and they chose to take some of the parts in Monaco and keep those that are not necessary to put at risk within the walls of the Principality to release them in Barcelona. And it was.

This Friday, the FIA ​​announced that Aston Martin will bring to this Spanish GP new rear and front wings and new ‘end plates’ on both elements, as well as a new ‘beam wing’ (a type of wing located near the impact structure and engine exhaust) and other modifications to perfect your car.

It should be remembered that in Monaco, the team already presented, among other things, a new front and rear suspension and wings adapted for the maximum load circuit. The change to the suspension sought to continue improving aspects such as the car’s cornering, braking and maximizing this car’s strong point, its excellent tire wear management, which allows it to make a difference in race speed every Sunday.

important moment of the year

Barcelona is a key track for all teams to make improvements and get key data to further develop their vehicles. The Catalan layout is the preferred one for groups to conduct highly representative tests and it is also for Aston Martin.

It is important to remember that Aston Martin had 37% more usage time allowed by wind tunnel regulations and CFD simulations due to its 7th position in the last World Cup. The development advantage will end this June, when the time allowed for each team to develop based on their current World Cup position will be recalculated. Aston Martin, 2nd in the Constructors’ Championship, will see its time in the wind tunnel and CFD simulations be drastically reduced for the second part of the course, so all the work done during this period will be of great help.

The end of this advantage does not mean that improvements will not continue to come. Aston Martin has already said that in Barcelona and other races they will bring new parts. And all the work done in the simulation can lead to the creation of more pieces for the rest of the course. And it is that the process of creating parts is long and, after investigation, its manufacturing rate depends on the machinery of each team. Aston Martin, which has worse tools at the moment because its new factory is still under construction, may take longer than the rest of the set.

“What you have to understand is that there is a process. First, it is having the creativity to find the improvement. Once you have it, be it at the level of suspensions, wind tunnels or other things… you need to validate it in the simulator. And when everything is proven and the new part shows a fairly realistic potential for improvement, it goes into production. And there, depending on the equipment, they make parts faster depending on the machinery or if you have to subcontract,” said Pedro de la Rosa, ambassador of Aston Martin, to MD.

“And then there are improvements that are very simple because they are small deflectors or details that will be added to certain aerodynamic parts, or something else, for example, the redesign of the entire bottom of the car. If a team introduces improvements sooner or later depending on many things. The important thing is to introduce them. This is not an excuse. It’s simple that everything takes time and the important thing is that when they are introduced, all the improvements work and give you a series of tenths a year”, the Catalan argued. Aston Martin is sticking to its plan and more parts are coming in the fierce development race where it will compete against the biggest teams in F1.