Aston Martin F1 principal Mike Krack has revealed that the majority of the team’s personnel are now focused on the 2023 single-seater and few people continue to work on the current AMR22.
The Silverstone-based team made major upgrades for the Spanish Grand Prix, which have since allowed it to finish in the top 10 more consistently.
But after 13 races contested this season, Aston Martin is only ninth in the constructors’ championship. Hence the desire to work on the next single-seater which will aim to do much better than its predecessor.
“While we need to continue to improve the performance of the AMR22 – we still have a small group working on it – we have already turned our attention to the AMR23,” Krack said.
“We have been focusing on the AMR23 for a while now because this car will need to perform from the outset. A new season and a new car represents the biggest opportunity there is to gain the upper hand over our competitors.
With the introduction of new aerodynamic regulations this season, the teams regularly make changes to correct the original defects of their single-seaters.
Krack says observers think Aston Martin F1 upgrades “didn’t work out because we didn’t move up the rankings,” but insists that they have brought gains, “just not enough for us to catch up.”
“We have been wrongly accused of copying Red Bull”
The Luxembourger also hailed his team’s ability to innovate with its new rear wing presented in Hungary, responding to accusations that Aston Martin had copied part of the Red Bull’s design earlier in the season.
« We have been wrongly accused of copying this season, and the new rear wing we brought to the Hungarian Grand Prix underlined our ability to innovate, to come up with ideas that our opponents haven’t thought of, which steals the show. »
« A lot of people think it’s easy to design a new wing, build it and then put it on the car. But if you look at that wing, or every evolution we bring to the car, the way everything is designed and produced, it is an art form. »
« Also, it’s not enough to build just one, you have to build three or four of them with the same specification in order to have spare parts for both cars. »
« We made a major upgrade to the Spanish Grand Prix with new sidepods, new floor, new bonnet, changes to the front suspensions, but to get enough parts in time for both cars… I’ve never seen anything like it. It was an amazing achievement from the whole team. »
The construction of the new factory is underway on the Silverstone site, and that of the new wind tunnel should begin in early 2023 to be operational in 2024 according to Krack.
« As soon as the first building is completed – which is planned for early next year, it will house the design, manufacturing and marketing resources – the already existing factory will be demolished so that the buildings housing the new wind tunnel can be built. »
