Aston Martin admits it would be “foolhardy” to ignore the “very difficult” battle that awaits in Formula 1’s midfield this season.
After making big gains with their ‘Pink Mercedes’ last year, the Silverstone-based outfit is expected to take another step this year, with third place in the Constructors’ Championship seen as their minimum goal.
However, while closing the gap to the front of the grid is of course the main focus, Aston team boss Otmar Szafnauer acknowledges their rivals are just as capable of improving by a similar amount.
“I think it would be foolhardy for us to not worry about those behind us and just look ahead of us,” Szafnauer said.
“I think we’ve got to do a good job, the midfield is ever increasing in competitiveness and getting much more difficult.
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“I can’t see Ferrari staying sixth forever, so they’ll be really difficult to beat this year and beyond. McLaren beat us last year into third, they’ll be difficult,” he noted, assessing the competition.
“Renault [Alpine] have the might of a manufacturer behind them as well and they are not going to be easy with [Fernando] Alonso coming in, a two-time world champion.
“So it will be very, very difficult for us to finish at the top of that midfield. It’s not going to be easy.
“At the same time, we want to look at the guys that finished ahead of us and get closer to the Mercedes and Red Bull. We want to get closer to them as well,” the Aston chief added.
“So the task is great but we are up for the challenge and we will work hard and do the best we can to achieve that.”
One reason why Aston Martin is considered a greater threat than others is they had greater development scope for this season, as the non-listed parts they get from Mercedes are upgraded to 2020 spec.
“From a car perspective, the car has changed a lot like Andrew [Green, technical director] said,” Szafnauer admits.
“In a year where we were meant to limit the amount of development that was done in order to save money, I’m surprised how much the car has changed.
“The tyres have changed, the aerodynamic rules changed late which drives a lot of aero development work and costs.”
Setting out the early season goals, he continued: “The car has changed so for us, success would be starting the season where we left off. We were very competitive in the races towards the end of last year.
“Unfortunately, we had a few crucial engine failures towards the end which meant we didn’t extract all the points we could have out of that performing car.
“So if we can start with that car performance where we left off, however, do a better job scoring points more regularly, and be a more consistent points scorer, I think that would be a success for us.”