F1 News
Mercedes has helped Aston Martin with the development of their 2022 car
- GPblog.com
Aston Martin had a successful season in 2020 under the Racing Point name. In 2021, things slowed down, but chief technical officer Andrew Green sees advantages for the new season. The winning Mercedes would have helped the team.
It's no secret that Aston Martin has cloned the winning 2019 Mercedes as the basis for their 2020 and 2021 cars. According to Green, 'copying' the car has opened their eyes and will help them challenge in 2022. The introduction of the new regulations will give many teams the chance to reach the top.
“It definitely opened our eyes to new ways of working – new concepts, new ideas", Green says in conversation with The Race. "It has enabled that thinking then to follow through to some degree on the 21’ car but the 2022 car definitely."
Aston Martin 'not a copy'
Last season wasn't easy for Aston Martin, which saw them drop back to seventh place in the championship. However, according to Green the team learned a lot from cloning the Mercedes. He doesn't like to use the word 'copy', because the team itself has worked on developing a solution. In fact, Aston Martin analysed the Mercedes and looked at why it was faster than the other cars on the grid.
"It’s not a copy, it’s developing a solution where you’ve got a rough idea of what you think the answer is, but you’ve still got to get there." According to Green, it has taken a lot for the team to understand the car, but in the end it has worked out well.