Mike Clack says Aston Martin is not lost on its current and next year’s F1 car despite falling profits and rumors.
The 2023 F1 season started well for Aston Martin, but quickly went downhill, losing fourth place to McLaren. Fortunately, there is a good enough gap between them and Alpine that will at least help him maintain his fifth place in the end.
Although still an improvement from last year, the way they started the 2023 season is a significant step backwards. The latest update package in Austin wasn’t cracked as it switched to Qatar spec for both the American and Mexican GPs.
Team principal Clack insists that Aston Martin is not lost in its development plans and that it is important to learn and understand the updates. They have some from Austin and plan to get more after the Mexico race. There are no errors in the system.
For now, these remain consistent, but switching between specifications is always a difficult task and can ultimately impact the work of engineers. There are disappointments for Aston Martin and of course there are disappointments for Lawrence, but they carry on.
Lost with development and updates –
Crack: “I get the impression, and I was expecting this question too. But when in doubt, you roll the dice and try something unwise. And it wasn’t. So we’re having pretty focused technical discussions and looking at options. And I want to race, but I don’t want to leave the pit lane. It is very important to understand the results contained in the data and then sometimes you have to make such pragmatic decisions. As I said, it’s not easy, but I think it’s the right way to move forward. ”
I don’t know if I should use the update or lose it –
Crack: “You’re trying to push us in this lost direction. This is the second time you’ve asked me, and I’ll be honest. It’s not us. We analyze the data. And we try to find a suitable solution from it. We have to understand that there are very different circuits. For example, you can see that up until FP3 there were unexpected teams and vice versa. Getting here from Austin is not as easy as getting a car that works in Austin. Just put it on the truck here and everything will be fine. So Alpine was seen struggling in qualifying and Ferrari was also seen struggling until free practice 3. There were other cars far ahead. And we’re behind. So understanding everything, including how the course will develop and how conditions will change during upgrades, is not an easy task, and it takes time and analysis. And I think it’s important to do a thorough analysis at the end of the weekend before moving on. ”
Limits of understanding –
Crack: “Cars are complex, and we’re always trying to improve them. And when we introduce upgrades, we recognize the problems we encountered in Austin. But in the race, I think I was very happy with the result, and everything worked as expected. But now that I’m here, I’m not sure where I should be. You may be out of place or your car may not be working as expected. Also, there are other routes that are slower or have different characteristics, so you should research them. Therefore, it is important that you understand what you are doing. And the best solution to understanding what you’re doing is to go back to what you know and compare it to what you know. I think that’s always the best approach from a technical perspective. ”
Development system error –
Crack: “There are no errors in the system. Here we are performing technical exercises combined with sports competitions. It is very easy. That is why we analyze data and We try to understand what areas we have weaknesses and try to improve them.” I can’t say there are any mistakes. ”
Convincing engineers by relying on old specifications –
Crack: “No, we’re a really great team. We’re open-minded and people work really well together.” Back at mission control, the data is analyzed and analyzed. In all areas we stick to the facts, no one is proud, we don’t let pride get in the way. please do not worry. ”
Disappointment within the team and with Lawrence Stroll –
Crack: “Lawrence is not happy. But neither are we. Nobody is happy. When you have a great start to the season; then you lose your competitiveness; No one can be happy. But you don’t need him to tell you. We must also accept that he is not. I think that’s the situation we’re in. As I said earlier, we are a strong team and we must work together with an open mind to get out of this situation. But like I said before, we don’t take too much pride in making decisions. ”
This is Lance Stroll and Valtteri Bottas during the collision
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