F1 news outlets have extensively covered Aston Martin’s ups and downs over the last year. With 2024 inbound, the team wants to set realistic targets.
Grading Aston Martin’s overall performance in 2023 is very tricky. To some extent, the British outfit was hugely successful – securing a total of eight podium finishes and becoming regular points scorers.
After finishing 7th in 2022, jumping up to 5th place and fighting with Ferrari and Mercedes is impressive. However, they began this year’s campaign as the second-best team, dominating F1 news headlines after Fernando Alonso’s Bahrain podium.
Although they fluctuated between second and third-fastest in the opening six rounds, this was perfectly reasonable. Unfortunately for Mike Krack, his team declined – as rivals improved and Aston Martin regressed.
Misplaced faith in simulator data saw a series of failed updates – starting from Canada – worsen the AMR23. The car was put outside its operating window, soon becoming the most perplexing and frustrating F1 news story of 2023.
The spectacular mid-season rise of McLaren only worsened this setback. However, Aston Martin deserves some credit for recovering in the final rounds – using these events to experiment with different diffuser and floor configurations.
Adjusting expectations for F1 2024 season
Reflecting on this year’s campaign, Mike Krack explained the team’s approach for 2024:
“We did understand the car by the end of the season – but it would wrong to say we understood absolutely everything about the AMR23.
“We understood a great deal, we know what we want to do for 2024 and the direction we need to go in with next year’s car.
“But that doesn’t necessarily mean we’re going to turn up at the season-opener in Bahrain next year and be fighting for the race win.”
In other interviews, the Aston Martin boss has admitted that replicating the team’s 2022-23 progress is unrealistic. Although a seemingly pessimistic comment, this is a fairly reasonable expectation.
If the Silverstone-based team gained the 2 seconds they did last winter, they would become title contenders and dominate F1 news headlines once again.
In a realistic scenario, this will not happen over the winter.
For the 2024 season, become established as a front-running team capable of podiums will likely be crucial.
In addition, Aston must ensure they’ve learned their lessons and avoid the development hiccups that stunted their progress this year.
This generation of F1 cars is very particular. Provided that Aston Martin’s mistakes are behind them, they could be in a strong position for 2024. In about two months’ time, pre-season testing will indicate their progress.
