Aston Martin outline ‘brave target’ for end of F1 2023

Aston Martin Performance Director Tom McCullough insists the team is still targeting to finish in second place in the Constructors’ Championship by the end of 2023.

The Silverstone side began the year by scoring six podium finishes in the opening eight races, but a mid-season slump in performance has seen it only record one further top-three finish since Fernando Alonso classified second in Canada in June.

Aston Martin has dropped 56 points behind Mercedes in second position, with the British marque also being overhauled by Ferrari last time out at the Italian Grand Prix.

However, with a return to high-downforce circuits beckoning – starting with this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix – McCullough outlines that Aston Martin remains fixated on regaining second place.

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“The target is to try to get back to second in the Constructors’ Championship,” he declared. “That’s a brave target, against some fierce competition.

“Mercedes have had a couple of strong events. Ferrari had their strongest event of the year at Monza, their home race; we’re hoping to be more competitive as we return to some of the higher-downforce tracks going forward.

“Margins are fine at this stage of the season and now it comes down to who can bring a few more developments to the track and who can execute the best weekends – operationally, and from the drivers’ side as well.”

Aston Martin Team Principal Mike Krack admitted earlier in the year that unexpected “side effects” from upgrades were responsible for its competitive regression.

Nevertheless, McCullough asserts the team will continue to introduce new parts to its AMR23 car across the remaining eight flyaway rounds of the 2023 campaign.

“We’ve been on the same development path for 18 months,” he explained. “Those philosophies haven’t really changed; we’re still bringing parts to the track between now and the end of the year.

“A lot of parts have been released a while back and by the time we get to the track, more come along. Even though the European leg of the season has finished, we’re still bringing parts to the car.

“It’s not as easy to bring those parts to the track for flyaway races and we have to account for delivery time, but we will have late freight that arrives to the track all the way until Friday morning – sometimes spares of updated parts arrive even later than that.

“It can be a real logistical challenge and some countries are harder to deliver to than others – but it’s all well planned for.”