Motorsport Week
  • Formula 1
    • 2025 Formula 1 Calendar
    • 2025 Formula 1 Standings
  • Formula E
    • 2025 Formula E Calendar
    • 2025 Formula E Standings
  • IndyCar
    • 2025 IndyCar Calendar
    • 2025 IndyCar Standings
  • WRC
    • 2025 WRC Standings
    • 2025 WRC Calendar
  • MotoGP
    • 2025 MotoGP Calendar
    • 2025 MotoGP Standings
    • Moto2
    • Moto3
  • WEC
    • 2025 WEC Calendar
  • IMSA
    • 2025 IMSA Calendar
  • World SBK
  • More
    • Formula 2
    • Formula 3
    • F1 Academy
    • Moto2
    • Moto3
    • World Superbikes
    • Technical Insight
    • Galleries
    • About/Contact
    • Privacy Policy
No Result
View All Result
  • Formula 1
    • 2025 Formula 1 Calendar
    • 2025 Formula 1 Standings
  • Formula E
    • 2025 Formula E Calendar
    • 2025 Formula E Standings
  • IndyCar
    • 2025 IndyCar Calendar
    • 2025 IndyCar Standings
  • WRC
    • 2025 WRC Standings
    • 2025 WRC Calendar
  • MotoGP
    • 2025 MotoGP Calendar
    • 2025 MotoGP Standings
    • Moto2
    • Moto3
  • WEC
    • 2025 WEC Calendar
  • IMSA
    • 2025 IMSA Calendar
  • World SBK
  • More
    • Formula 2
    • Formula 3
    • F1 Academy
    • Moto2
    • Moto3
    • World Superbikes
    • Technical Insight
    • Galleries
    • About/Contact
    • Privacy Policy
No Result
View All Result
Motorsport Week
Home Single Seater Formula 1

Aston Martin explains extent of 2021 recovery after starting on the ‘back foot’

by Ryan Wood
4 years ago
A A
0
France display ‘silences any critics’ over tyres – Aston Martin

Sebastian Vettel (GER) Aston Martin F1 Team AMR21. French Grand Prix, Saturday 19th June 2021. Paul Ricard, France.

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

The Aston Martin Formula 1 team headed into the 2021 season with high expectations, having come off the back of its most successful season, albeit under a different name, but things didn’t play out as expected and it’s taken a lot of work to recover according to performance director Tom McCullough.

The team, then known as Racing Point, finished an impressive fourth in the standings, just seven points shy of McLaren – but would have finished third had they not been docked 15 points for copying Mercedes’ brake ducts – and took four podiums including a victory.

With the cars remaining almost identical in 2021, many expected the now rebranded Aston Martin team to impress, but the team found itself struggling at the back of the midfield, scoring just five points in the opening four races.

McCullough explained the reasons for that – a change in the regulations which hurt those with a low rake philosophy – and how they overcame it to put in some strong results including a podium finish in Baku and another in Hungary, which was later taken away because of a fuel irregularity.

RelatedPosts

Sauber has opened up a new base in the UK

Sauber celebrates opening of new UK technology hub ahead of Audi F1 transition

37 minutes ago
Fernando Alonso (ESP) Aston Martin F1 Team AMR25. 29.06.2025. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 11, Austrian Grand Prix, Spielberg, Austria, Race Day

Fernando Alonso explains ‘confusing’ defensive tactic to secure Austria F1 points finish

2 hours ago

“It is a well-known fact that we started the season on the back foot, as a result of regulatory changes that had affected the aero performance of low-rake cars more adversely than high-rake cars. Our car is a low-rake car,” explained McCullough.

“Mercedes’ low-rake car was similarly disadvantaged, but, because it had been the class of the field in 2020, it fell back fewer places than our car did as we had been competing at the front of a very competitive midfield last year.

“At the beginning of this year we therefore slipped towards the back of that very competitive midfield, but, as I say, that was the result of the regulatory changes. 

“Since then, though, I want to acknowledge the tremendous amount of very hard work that has been done by our colleagues in aero, design and manufacturing, who have tirelessly clawed back that performance deficit, inventing and making aero updates that we appraised first in CFD [computational fluid dynamics], then tested in the windtunnel, then, finally, manufactured and fitted to our race car.”

McCullough says the team has made changes to almost every visible surface of its car as it’s tried to claw back the performance it lost.

“It was and is a more or less never-ending process of iterative development, and, as a result, there is almost no externally visible part of our car that has not been improved in some way between Bahrain and Silverstone. Or, to put it another way, if a part of our car is licked by the wind, we have probably updated it at some point over the past four months.

“It is working. We know that our car is still not the fastest, but it is now closer in performance to the cars of our principal rivals than it was at the beginning of the season, and that is the result of a carefully managed programme of aero improvement that has necessarily involved trial and error but has also delivered real results.”

Tags: AstonMartinF1Vettel
Share198Tweet124Share

Related Posts

Sauber has opened up a new base in the UK
Formula 1

Sauber celebrates opening of new UK technology hub ahead of Audi F1 transition

37 minutes ago
Fernando Alonso (ESP) Aston Martin F1 Team AMR25. 29.06.2025. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 11, Austrian Grand Prix, Spielberg, Austria, Race Day
Formula 1

Fernando Alonso explains ‘confusing’ defensive tactic to secure Austria F1 points finish

2 hours ago
Fernando Alonso (ESP) Aston Martin F1 Team AMR25 leads Gabriel Bortoleto (BRA) Sauber C45. 29.06.2025. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 11, Austrian Grand Prix, Spielberg, Austria, Race Day
Formula 1

Sauber reveals McLaren rejected late request via text message in Austrian GP points battle

2 hours ago
Load More

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Upcoming Races

#EventDate
11Austrian GP27-29 June
12British GP04-06 July
13Belgian GP25-27 July
14Hungarian GP01-03 August
15Dutch GP29-31 August

Click here for the full 2025 F1 calendar

Drivers’  Standings

#DriverPts
Oscar Piastri216
Lando Norris201
Max Verstappen155
George Russell146
Charles Leclerc120
Lewis Hamilton91
Andrea Kimi Antonelli63
Alexander Albon42
Isack Hadjar28
Esteban Ocon23

Click here for full Drivers’ Standings

Latest Articles

Sauber has opened up a new base in the UK
Formula 1

Sauber celebrates opening of new UK technology hub ahead of Audi F1 transition

July 1, 2025
Fernando Alonso (ESP) Aston Martin F1 Team AMR25. 29.06.2025. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 11, Austrian Grand Prix, Spielberg, Austria, Race Day
Formula 1

Fernando Alonso explains ‘confusing’ defensive tactic to secure Austria F1 points finish

July 1, 2025
Fernando Alonso (ESP) Aston Martin F1 Team AMR25 leads Gabriel Bortoleto (BRA) Sauber C45. 29.06.2025. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 11, Austrian Grand Prix, Spielberg, Austria, Race Day
Formula 1

Sauber reveals McLaren rejected late request via text message in Austrian GP points battle

July 1, 2025

Follow Motorsport Week

Join our daily motorsport newsletter

* indicates required

Motorsport Week

© 2024 Motorsport Media Services Ltd

Other Links

  • About & Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Motorsport Monday

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • Sign Up
  • Home
  • Formula 1
    • Latest News
    • 2025 F1 Calendar
    • 2025 F1 Championship Standings
  • Formula E
    • Latest News
    • 2025 FE Calendar
    • 2025 FE Championship Standings
  • MotoGP
    • Latest News
    • 2025 MotoGP Calendar
    • 2025 MotoGP Standings
    • Moto2
    • Moto3
    • World Superbikes
  • WRC
    • Latest News
    • 2025 WRC Calendar
    • 2025 WRC Standings
  • IndyCar
    • Latest News
    • 2025 IndyCar Calendar
    • 2025 IndyCar Standings
  • WEC
    • Latest News
    • 2025 WEC Calendar
  • Live Updates
  • Other
    • IMSA
    • Formula 2
    • Formula 3
    • F1 Academy
    • Moto2
    • Moto3
    • World Superbikes
  • Galleries
  • About/Contact
  • Privacy Policy

© 2024 Motorsport Media Services Ltd