Aston Martin’s poor development has haunted them since the beginning of 2023. In another setback for the British team, they have returned to their floor from the Japanese GP – deeming this specification better than their latest updates.
Still uncertainty about Aston Martin’s direction
At this stage of the 2023 season, Aston Martin were essentially using any track time to experiments. They were testing different floor designs to determine their direction for this year’s campaign.
In the first rounds of the season (Bahrain, Jeddah, China), the AMR24 showed potential.
Alonso was consistently within four tenths of Pole Position, often fighting with the McLaren’s and Mercedes.
Although race pace was a point of weakness for Aston, there was at least signs of potential.
However, this promise almost entirely evaporated at the Imola GP. Lawrence Stroll’s team brought a new floor specification which, like many of Aston’s upgrades, sent the team backwards.
Back to the drawing board
In the six months since then, Aston Martin have failed to make any significant progress.
Despite testing a variety of different configurations, the AMR24 is no closer to fighting near fighting at the front.
Because of this, the British team used last weekend’s Mexico GP as a testing opportunity. They used several floor specifications throughout the weekend, including the AMR24’s Japanese GP design.
For this weekend’s Brazilian GP, Aston Martin have chosen to use their floor from Japan. The team determined that this floor – despite being one of their oldest – would deliver the best performance.
Fernando Alonso’s pace from Free Practice at Interlagos, though insufficient to reach any conclusions, was encouraging.
Regardless of whether the AMR24 is more competitive over the coming days, serious questions need to be asked about the team’s development.
Aston Martin cannot say they have achieved any significant progress in the last twelve months – which does not bode well for their 2025 trajectory.
