Aston Martin has been fifth in F1 2024’s pecking order to date each by way of race efficiency and outcomes, heading to Miami 12 factors behind fourth-placed Mercedes.
However whereas it has struggled to match the likes of Ferrari and McLaren over a race distance, the Silverstone workforce’s qualifying performances have bucked that pattern.
Within the fingers of two-time world champion Fernando Alonso, Aston’s AMR24 has certified on the second or third row of the grid 4 out of 5 occasions, solely to fall again over a race distance.
Alonso stated he took his automobile’s stunning one-lap efficiency as a bonus slightly than as an indication one thing is amiss with its longer-run tempo in China, saying his workforce “can’t ask for forgiveness for being too quick in qualifying, so let’s take it.”
In response to the squad’s efficiency director Tom McCullough, the workforce’s persevering with discrepancy between qualifying and race tempo is a key level to handle, with the workforce absolutely centered on getting its automobile in the very best window for Sundays.
“Each race, we have had the identical sample. The margins in qualifying are very, very small between a number of groups, extra than simply the highest 5 groups,” McCullough stated.
“Getting essentially the most out of the automobile, the tyres, the understanding, for positive that is been the power of our automobile this 12 months after which within the race.
Photograph by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
“We’re attempting all the pieces on our aspect to organize the automobile as properly for racing as attainable. We’re not attempting to only arrange for qualifying and ignore racing.
“The automobile developments, the entire understanding of find out how to optimise the automobile and the tyres is concentrated on that. There are some groups that did a greater job than us in the mean time and we have got to maintain working onerous on that.”
McCullough added that slightly than a deliberate technique, the higher one-lap efficiency is the by-product of a few of the automobile modifications it has made, resembling a extra environment friendly DRS system. Adjustments that have been primarily meant to lead to a better-performing automobile in race trim.
“By means of the event part, you’ve got obtained some key choices to make.,” he defined.
“The factors are all the time on the Sunday, we do not develop a automobile for qualifying. There are some parts that whenever you develop a automobile to be sturdy.
“The effectivity of the DRS change will even assist qualifying and qualifying is vital, if you may get into free air and run your individual race, then you might be a lot better than being in soiled air and shedding a load of factors of downforce.
“Quite a lot of the selections we made all through final 12 months and into this 12 months’s automobile have helped qualifying a bit, however our important focus in the way in which we develop the automobile is to be a quick race automobile.”
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