“The car for 2023 will be much more competitive than this year” - Aston Martin’s F1 Technical Director expects team to perform better next season

Aston Martin's technical director expects the team to make a huge leap forward in terms of performance next season. The Silverstone-based team did not have a great 2022 Formula 1 season. While the initial iteration of the car was just not good enough, the upgrades introduced in Barcelona helped the team move forward through the course of the season.

Talking about his expectations from the 2023 Aston Martin challenger, Dan Fallows, the team's technical director (and a recruit from Red Bull), feels that the car should make significant leaps forward next season.

He said:

"We think the car for 2023 will be much more competitive than this year. I am sure that we can take a great step forward with the AMR23. I am sure of this because when I analyse the car, there are many areas for improvement that I see in all of the car. We have, literally, hundreds of projects underway at the moment. In the aerodynamic department, in the design office, in R&D, people are finding improvements. Whether there are with weight, aerodynamics... it will all result in better performance."

Speaking about Aston Martin's newest driver Fernando Alonso, Fallows feels that the Spaniard's feedback and demands from the car should not be too different from what Max Verstappen has had at Red Bull, as the two have very similar driving styles. He said:

"Fernando will express his problems with the car, but that shouldn't be anything new for the team. With Sebastian (Vettel) and Lance (Stroll), we've already had two drivers give a lot of feedback and tell us what they think when things go bad. Fernando has a reputation for being very feel-driven - he likes to feel the limits of the car. So we need to make sure we give him a stable car. Max Verstappen, He's a very similar driver in that sense. He likes to push his cars to the limit, or slightly over it, all the time, so he has to make sure the car behaves correctly in those conditions, at the absolute limit. I understand that with Fernando he will be very similar,"

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Aston Martin improved significantly over the course of the year: Lance Stroll

Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll believes that the team had shown significant progress throughout the season. The upgrade package introduced in Barcelona (that had a striking resemblance to Red Bull's design), helped the team make significant progress with each race.

He said:

"I think we had problems at the beginning of the year. We didn't have the desired pace, but the team did a great job improving the car . We presented a new package in Barcelona and that was like the beginning of the change. And then from there, I think we developed the car a lot. After the summer we made a lot of progress. We went from being almost without any chance of scoring points to a much more favorable position,"

Aston Martin will be hoping to put together better performances in 2023 and finish as the best of the midfield, after seeing Alpine, McLaren and Alfa Romeo beat them in the Constructors' Championship this year.