Aston Martin has openly admitted that the improvements made to their car this year have made it more challenging to drive. Both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll have experienced the AMR24 becoming increasingly difficult to control as they push for more speed.
In a highly competitive Formula 1 environment, any element that puts drivers in a position where they struggle to find the limits is obviously not a positive development. So far, the team has not provided many specifics about the weaknesses they have faced. Alonso, in particular, was cautious when asked about what the car was lacking before the Spanish Grand Prix.
While Alonso was hesitant to reveal details, Stroll delved a bit deeper and pointed out the balance issues that have made the Aston Martin a bit more challenging to drive. Unlike Mercedes, Silverstone’s team does not suffer from performance balance issues at different speeds in corners. Instead, their issues are related to excessive understeer halfway through corners, a characteristic that will be especially exposed in the long turns of Barcelona.
“It’s a matter of balance, but not confidence,” explained Stroll. “It’s just that the car is limited in terms of balance. It’s not a difficult car to drive in terms of turning laps. It’s just that we have limitations with entry and stability, a lot of mid-corner understeer, and things like that, that we can’t avoid.”
“If you’re in a very long corner, you have a lot of understeer, and that limits you from going faster. So we see that this kind of problem holds us back, along with the overall aerodynamic load,” he added.
Aston Martin’s performance director, Tom McCullough, recently explained that tuning the cars for circuits with longer corners was not an easy task. “A short corner is easier to prepare for, a long corner is more difficult,” he said. “Getting the balance in a long corner is always more complicated, and it’s something everyone is working on. We’ve been working on it since Bahrain.”
He continued, “There are always balance features you want to improve, and we’ve been focusing on that, bringing in parts all the time to make it better, so we’re gradually making progress.”
“At the same time, we’re trying to add performance to the car, bringing aerodynamic and mechanical upgrades. It’s simply about getting a car that the drivers can have confidence in and be consistent from one circuit to another. That’s what everyone is doing, but that has been our main goal,” he said.
While Aston Martin is aware of what needs to be done, they are not under any illusions that there is a quick fix. The improvements strictly aimed at enhancing their current situation will still take a few races to come to fruition.
As Stroll put it, “I think we’ve gathered a lot of information in the last few races, and now it’s about attacking the problem. Not this week, not next week, but in the upcoming weekends as quickly as possible. So it’s more about finding the solution to the problem than understanding it.”