Aston Martin say they are not disappointed to have fallen from second in the constructors’ championship to eventually finish in fifth.
The Silverstone-based team were the story of the early season, as they went from a seventh place finish in the championship in 2022 to scoring regular podiums in the opening rounds of the 2023 season.
Aston Martin ran second in the constructors’ championship from the opening race in Bahrain until the end of the Spanish Grand Prix, where they were overtaken by Mercedes. Over the remainder of the season, they were also passed by both Ferrari and eventually McLaren in the later rounds, ultimately ending the year in fifth place.
Asked if fifth was a disappointment for his team given their early season performance, team principal Mike Krack said his team had always kept their performance in perspective.
“It’s not a disappointment, because you need to be realistic about where you are,” he said.
“We started the year in a very good position, but we also need to analyse why have we been in that position. If you really analyse that and be realistic about where you are, then you cannot be disappointed. We were surprised – and I think everybody was surprised – that some teams were not coming out of the starting blocks as we have expected. And then by developing, they came back to their say, more natural position. That is something that we cannot influence with the firing power that we were having.
“So from that point of view, I think it would be wrong to say that this part is a disappointment. It is something that we know that we need to work on for the future, if we want to become a stronger team. But I think it would be not correct to put this as a disappointment.”
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The team’s performance director, Tom McCullough, said Aston Martin are more concerned with data and and knowledge, rather than than their ultimate finishing positions.
“I think also we’re brutal with ourselves,” said McCullough. We’re very understanding-led as opposed to results-led. Because if you’re too results-led, you get lost, really, in this game.”
McCullough pointed to the Australian Grand Prix, where team drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll finished third and fourth for their biggest points haul of the season, as an example of where the team’s result did not match their relative performance level.
“We came away from Melbourne, the third race of the year, we finished third and…
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