Formula 1 teams are all trying to find the extra tenths of a second that can make a difference in lap time, but often they get upgrades wrong which can impact their on-track performance dramatically.
A case in point this year has been Aston Martin, who went from being the team with the most podiums out of any non-Red Bull team to regressing to the midfield and currently fifth in the Constructors’ Championship.
Having failed to manage a single podium this year, they only had one top-six finish at the Canadian GP in June. Much of their troubles stem from an upgrade made at this year’s Emilia Romagna GP which failed to deliver their expected performance gains.
Billionaire team owner Lawrence Stroll reportedly got ‘pretty loud’ behind the scenes over their problems and piled pressure on former technical director Dan Fallows, who recently left his post after the team announced Adrian Newey would be joining next season.
Former F1 driver Giedo van der Garde believes the £1.1 billion F1 team is now ‘completely lost’ and could struggle to make it back to regularly finishing on the podium when discussing their form on the F1 Nation podcast.
Giedo van der Garde says Aston Martin ‘completely lost’ after form slump
Stroll is pouring £783m into Aston Martin with the hopes that they become a frontrunner in the future, with Newey joining a list of world-class engineers including former Mercedes power unit head Andy Cowell and highly rated Ferrari engineer Enrico Cardile.
But Van der Garde, who used to race for Caterham during the 2013 season, is worried about where they can go from their current form.
Van der Garde told the F1 Nation podcast: “Just a question from my side to you. But you guys have been a lot in Formula 1 and seen the races and know the team and know the people that are there.
“But I had the feeling that they [Aston Martin] were completely lost in here.”
In response to his question, host Tom Clarkson explained how Newey will add a fresh perspective amid their troubles: “Well, the results would suggest that, wouldn’t it, Giedo? Where, as was the case last year, they started strong and then they’ve tailed off.
“I think it’s been a very difficult car to develop. I will be fascinated to see what Adrian can do with this current car. I know he’s coming in and his main focus will be 2026, but let’s not forget that Adrian knew he started life as a race engineer. He’s brilliant in the garage.
“And I just wonder whether, just from a setup point of view, whether, fresh eyes, fresh ears can give them a few ideas. I think they will make a jump in 2025 before then the first Adrian car comes on stream in 2026.”
Aston Martin engineers were scared to admit they went in the wrong direction
In a bid to rectify their problems, Aston Martin introduced a new floor at the recent United States Grand Prix which they hoped would work on all tracks.
Aston Martin runs its car low to the ground similar to Mercedes, and because of this, it led to bouncing becoming a characteristic in their cars.
READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Aston Martin F1 Team from team principal to lineage
Damon Hill praised Alonso for continuing the Sao Paulo GP, when the Spaniard complained that he had a sore back but wanted to finish the race after his mechanics worked hard to get him back out after a crash in qualifying.
Aston Martin engineers ‘lacked the courage’ to admit to Stroll they went in the wrong direction with the upgrade and needed to make a big step back to understand their problems.
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