(Motorsport-Total.com) – The Formula 1 teams have used the five-week racing break, triggered by the cancellation of the two races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, intensively to develop extensive update packages for their cars. However, one team appeared in Miami without visible innovations according to a technical FIA document: Aston Martin.
Read more «Did not expect it»: Kimi Antonelli dominates Formula 1
However, this does not mean at all that the British racing team, together with engine partner Honda, has been inactive in recent weeks. But due to the strong vibrations in the first three races, the focus of development shifted from pure performance to optimizing reliability.
It makes little sense to make possible performance upgrades to the AMR26 as long as the team is still in the phase of troubleshooting and reliability work; it would be comparable to decorating a cake whose core is not yet baked through.
“We have made progress in reliability and in reducing vibrations as well as improving drivability, I think we have already seen quite substantial upgrades,” explains team principal Mike Krack.
Aston Martin is making progress, but …
“And we have to continue working in this direction,” adds the native Luxembourger, who consciously does not want to commit to a concrete schedule for upcoming updates. “That’s why I don’t commit to the next race, the race after that, or whatever comes.”
“But I think we have shown that we had many problems at the start of the season. Exceptional problems, but I think the speed with which they were solved was quite remarkable. Therefore, I think we can expect further improvements.”
At the Miami Grand Prix, Aston Martin still appeared clearly at the back, at times even behind newcomer Cadillac. “We also have to acknowledge that there is a big gap to close and that this will not be the work of a week,” Krack states soberly.
The gearbox also caused problems in Miami
Complicating matters is that, in addition to the now largely reduced vibrations, there are still problems in the drivetrain: The gearbox caused difficulties with synchronization throughout the weekend, which manifested for the drivers in poor feedback during gear changes.
However, as long as the base is not stable and reliability cannot be guaranteed, fine-tuning other vehicle areas makes little sense. “We have no upgrades planned until after the summer,” Fernando Alonso admits openly.
Crash and failure: These Formula 1 major projects were never successful
“Therefore, we don’t have to come to Canada and ask ourselves: ‘What awaits us in Canada? The same. What awaits us in Austria? The same.’ That’s exactly what we have to keep under control: the frustration in the team,” adds the Spaniard, who can understand the course the team has taken.
Read more From Friday: Experience 500 dream cars up close for 17 euros in Hockenheim
“I think we are all relaxed, we are all focused on having a better second half of the season after the summer, and let’s see if we can manage that,” says the two-time world champion. “I am at peace because I understand the situation.”
Reliability is currently more important than performance
“The team has explained to me that it doesn’t change anything about our position if we find one or two tenths at every race – we are P20 or P19, and the next car is a second ahead. That creates enormous stress in the system, also due to the budget cap and similar things.”
“Therefore, it is better not to push the production release as long as we don’t have an improvement of one and a half to two seconds, because otherwise we waste money.” Accordingly, the focus is currently less on pure track performance and more on internal processes.
Krack emphasizes that there is still considerable potential in the processes, especially during the race weekend. In the first four races of the season, the engineers at the track were primarily occupied with keeping both cars operational and reliable; optimization was secondary.
Aston Martin plans new updates only from summer onwards
The operational roadmap is clearly structured: First ensure the reliability of the two AMR26s, then extract the maximum performance from the current specification and simultaneously prepare the larger upgrades for the end of August.
“I think you have to acknowledge what the strategy and plan are. Our task at the track is to get the maximum out of what you have. I think we can safely say that we are not optimal in everything,” Krack continues.
“We talked [in Miami] about optimal execution, which we did not have for one reason or another. I think we did well, but we could have done better. And I think that applies equally to energy, equally to drivability.”
“So we still have a lot to get out of this package as it is at the moment,” emphasizes the lead engineer and thus also makes a clear appeal to the team and drivers: “The important thing is that we all stay motivated to work on it and then wait for the next step.”
Read more In several countries: Formula 1 extends TV contracts with Sky