Aston Martin sets high bar: 'That's a brave target'
F1 News
Aston Martin has taken a huge step forward in 2023. It is hard to remember that the British team finished seventh in the constructors' championship last season. This season, Aston Martin is fighting for second place in this championship, behind Red Bull Racing. Performance director Tom McCullough discusses his team's good performance.
Aston Martin always in the points in 2023
In all races this season, Aston Martin managed to take points and that seems quite normal now, but it certainly wasn't last year. The team has now set a run of 16 consecutive points finishes. "Scoring points 16 times in a row a difficult thing to do – it's easy to underestimate just how hard this is," McCullough began.
"To finish first, first you have to finish, and reliability has been a strength of the team so far. Our scoring streak speaks to the execution of the team, Lance and Fernando; when the margins are so small in the hunt for points, it takes a significant effort to turn the tables." Aston Martin has yet to win a race this season, but hopes to have a good chance of doing so in Singapore.
Aston Martin continue to upgrade
Also in Singapore, the British team will again come up with upgrades for the AMR23. "We're still bringing parts to the track between now and the end of the year. Even though the European leg of the season has finished, we're still bringing parts to the car," the Aston Martin chief indicated. New parts for the car are even still coming in on Friday morning in Singapore, according to McCullough.
The goal is second place for Aston Martin
At the start of the season, the British team was in second place in the championship for a long time. Now, however, the team is fourth behind Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari. "The target is to try to get back to second in the Constructors' Championship. That's a brave target, against some fierce competition. Mercedes have had a couple of strong events. Ferrari had their strongest event of the year at Monza, their home race; we're hoping to be more competitive as we return to some of the higher-downforce tracks going forward."