Aston Martin is laser-focused on finishing third in this year’s Formula 1 Constructors’ standings despite “formidable” rivals.
In 2020, Racing Point, as they were then called, often ran as the third-best team thanks to their controversial ‘Pink Mercedes’, but missed out on that position by just seven points to McLaren.
This after a combination of bad luck, with both drivers missing races due to Covid-19 and car failures while in strong positions, as well as a 15-point deduction having been found guilty of breaking the rules on listed parts.
But with the pecking order expected to remain pretty static this year, Aston boss Otmar Szafnauer is keen to make amends.
“Last year we set our sights on third all season, we should have been third. So this year it makes sense for us to focus on, and target, third place again,” he told RTL.
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“I don’t think it will be easy, we’ve got some formidable competitors there.
“Ferrari will work hard over the winter to do better than they did last year; McLaren gets a new powertrain, the same one that we have, and I’m sure they did that for reasons of competitiveness.
“And then there are some driver movements as well, so we’ll see how all that pans out. There are some differences.
“Of course, the FIA have big rule changes,” he noted. “They took out big chunks of the floor for us to lose downforce and depending on how the teams claw that downforce back, that’ll have a big impact on performance as well.
“So there are some things that have changed over the winter, and it will be really interesting to see the job everybody has done and how it pans out in the competitiveness stakes.”
While all teams will have to adapt to the aero changes, some parts have been frozen and only two development tokens were given to work on other areas.
Aston though could benefit from a regulatory loophole which allows them to upgrade their non-listed parts from Mercedes to 2020-spec without any cost.
“We don’t have the normal latitude of development that we usually do, so from a philosophy standpoint in running a low-rake car, that has stayed the same,” Szafnauer told Sky Sports.
“Having said that, this is the first time that a carryover car has had many of its parts new, so although the philosophy is carryover we will still have a lot of new parts on the car, a lot of new aerodynamic development, even a new chassis for us as well.
“Although the car will be similar to last year, it’s predominantly new.”
As a result, does that mean Aston Martin could even potentially look at finishing higher than third?
“Well, let’s see how we go,” the team boss replied. “Second would be great. If we can take the fight to Red Bull and Mercedes, that would be great too.”