Welcome Drivers!

This post is a continuation of the Constructor Deep Dive series we are currently working through. If you haven’t already, check out the deep dives that we have already done below.

• Williams Racing (Link)

• AlphaTauri (Link)

• Haas (Link)

Next on the list is Aston Martin, who finished 7th in the Constructors championship in 2022.

2022 Performance

Aston Martin got off to a rocky start in 2022 but were able to work through their early season issues and finish strong. In the first half of the season, they were only able to score 18 points and in the back half they rebounded to score 37 points.

Aston Martin finished P7 in the constructors championship and was tied on points with Alfa Romeo with 55. Alfa Romeo was able to finish ahead due to having the best race finish between the two teams. Unfortunately for Aston Martin, the prize money difference between P6 and P7 is around $10-12mm.

Sebastian Vettel, now retired, led the team with 37 points in 20 races (Vettel missed the first two races of the year due to COVID). Stroll tallied 18 points to make it 55 on the year. Aston Martin’s best race came in Singapore where they were able to score 12 points with Stroll placing 6th and Vettel 8th.

It was an okay year for a team with much higher aspirations. Lawrence Stroll (owner of Aston Martin F1) is investing a lot of money in new facilities and a state of the arc wind tunnel. These updates will come with higher expectations as Lawrence Stroll wants to win championships not muck around in P7.

Looking Ahead to 2023

Leadership, Management & Partnerships

As previously stated, Lawrence Stroll is very committed to provide the most up to date facilities to give Aston Martin the best possible chance to compete for championships. His commitment to the team has trickled down to the rest of the team where there is an aggressive mindset to improve and fight for wins.

Not only is the development aggressive, which we will touch on later, but Stroll’s commitment to the team has attracted the likes of F1 legend and two-time champion Fernando Alonso. Alonso has stated Aston Martin’s aspirations are higher than his past two teams he has raced for. He also came out saying that he thinks Lance Stroll has a chance to become an F1 champion with Aston Martin.

Clearly Alonso is drinking the kool aid over at Aston Martin, but we do think it shows the confidence this team has. Confidence in your abilities is the first step to a successful year. We will see just how competitive their car actually is when we hit the track in late February.

Development

Aston Martin have revealed their AMR23, and it is drastically different than last year’s car. They are saying that 90% of the car parts from last year have been changed or updated. This is a very aggressive move from Aston Martin who is looking to make the jump to the top of the midfield sooner rather than later.

Let’s start with the side pods. Last year the AMR22 changed a lot during the course of the season, and they seemingly copied the Red Bull side pods. At one point they were referred to as the Green Bull. This year looks like they got a little more creative with their design. We think it looks like a cross between the Ferrari and the Red Bull side pods. There is a deep carve out in the top of the side pod that gives it a “bathtub” style look similar to last year’s Ferrari. They also kept the large undercut under the inlets of the side pods similar to last year’s Red Bull.

We will see if this big change helps or hurts Aston Martin’s chances of competing for the coveted “best of the rest” P4 spot. There has been some interesting talk coming out of the Aston Martin garage during the offseason. Christian Horner, the Red Bull team principal, name dropped Aston Martin as a potential surprise rival for the 2023 season. Horner goes on to say that they keep hearing of “big numbers” coming out of there in their expectations. That was a surprise answer from Horner and increased the hype around this year’s AMR23.

Aston Martin fans should not get too far ahead of themselves here. Alonso came out and quelled some of the hype by saying that there will be difficult races at the beginning of 2023 and that while it’s a possibility for him compete for his 3rd championship in the AMR23, that it likely would not happen this season.

That being said, it looks like Aston Martin is confident that they have a competitive car this season and that they are well on their way to the top of the grid. They will need continued development throughout the year which we have no doubt will happen given the owners commitment to get this team to a championship caliber level.

Drivers

As stated earlier in the article, Aston Martin was able to bring in Fernando Alonso for the 2023 season. He will be replacing Sebastian Vettel who retired from F1 following the 2022 season. Aston Martin is effectively going from one F1 champion to another with the change.

Alonso has a history of moving to lower-to-mid tier teams to help them develop to become more competitive. A lot of people believe we was key in the development of Mclaren’s cars when he was there. He also helped Alpine with the development of their car to compete with Mclaren. Now he is turning his attention to Aston Martin and with the team’s commitment he says he likes their chances. He is expected to be the expert when it comes to feedback on car performance. He will also serve as a mentor to Lance Stroll.

Lance Stroll returns to Aston Martin for his 5th season with the team and 7th season in F1. He has shown glimpses of talent when he became the second youngest driver to achieve a podium finish in the 2017 Azerbaijan GP and when he took pole position in the 2020 Turkish GP.

Regardless of these achievements, he has also had some head-scratching moments. He had multiple dangerous defending penalties and weaving on the straight penalties during the 2022 season. He tends to be more aggressive than most drivers which gets him into hot water at times. 2023 will be an important year for Stroll to take a step forward in his career. This will be especially true if Aston Martin is able to field a competitive car.

We think Aston Martin is in a similar spot they were last year when it comes to their drivers. They have an F1 legend in Alonso and a solid driver in Stroll. We think either of these drivers can have success in a competitive car but expect Alonso to be the lead horse this season.

2023 Predictions

We think there is a high ceiling for Aston Martin this season. They seem very confident in their direction and are obviously willing invest in their own team. If everything goes right for Aston Martin, we see them as high as P4. Their target is even higher than that, but we don’t expect those results just yet. At a minimum we expect to see them improve to P5 or P6 in the constructors championship.

Aston Martin is clearly trying to lay a solid foundation for future success, and this started back when Lawrence Stroll bought the team in 2019. We believe they are beginning to see the fruits of their labor and could be a force to be reckoned with in the midfield this season. Who knows, maybe we will see Alonso on the top step of the podium again this year.

Upcoming Posts and Reader Feedback

Our next post will be a continuation of the deep dives into each team for their 2023 outlook. We will try to get out one a day considering we have limited time before the pre-season testing starts in late February.

If you like the post, please subscribe to the newsletter. We try to publish 2-3 articles a week and will be doing in-depth breakdowns as the season gets going. Feel free to leave any comments or recommendations on topics you would like to be covered. Thanks for reading!