F1 team branded ‘lost’ with ‘one step back’ required to move forward

Reportedly forced to roll back on some of their Imola upgrades, Michael Schmidt says Aston Martin were “lost” and are now slowly working their way back into the mix.

Last year’s surprise team when Fernando Alonso raced to eight podium finishes, Aston Martin arguably punched above their weight before this season dropping back in the midfield.

‘They have to take one step back…’

Falling short of the podium in the early rounds with a best showing of P5 at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, the team introduced a big upgrade package at Imola that included a new front wing, floor, and bodywork.

It fell short of expectations with Aston Martin reportedly joining a growing list of teams that have seen the return of bouncing.

While Ferrari’s bouncing has been noted, and acknowledged by the team , Aston Martin and VCARB are also “suffering from this phenomenon,” says Schmidt. “Many upgrades by the F1 teams are not working as intended. The underbody in particular is causing problems.”

However, team boss Mike Krack insisted they’d get to the bottom of what went wrong, saying: “The upgrades are certainly a step forward and there’s no need to roll them off.”

But scoring just 16 points in the next four races, the Auto Motor und Sport journalist claims Aston Martin did take steps at the last race at Silverstone.

“Aston Martin screwed the Suzuka underbody to the car along with new parts that were added such as front wing and rear ventilation,” he said in his Formel Schmidt podcast.

“The team is lost and has gone a step too far, now they have to take one step back and slowly work their way back up.”

Both Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso scored points at Silverstone, seventh and eight at the British Grand Prix.

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The good news for Aston Martin is performance director Tom McCullough says the data and drivers are telling the team the same thing, which means they know exactly what needs to be done. But it takes time.

“The drivers want to be up the front of the grid – we know that – so bringing updates to the car that don’t quite give the relative performance that you’re wanting, the drivers aren’t going to be as happy,” he said.

“The drivers love to see their name at the top and score the points. They’re very professional, working very hard in the debriefs.

“The good thing for us is the two of them are saying exactly the same thing about the car – the data’s saying the same thing, we can see where we need to improve.

“It’s just heads down now and trying to bring those parts to the car as quickly as possible.”

Aston Martin has scored 68 points this season to sit P5 in the Constructors’ Championship , 37 points ahead of VCARB in the battle to lead F1’s midfield.

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