How Aston Martin went from podium to slowest in only a year...
I call it the Stroll effect. Every single year the Stroll's manage to go backwards during the seasons. Last season was impressively bad. Going from the 2nd best team all the way down to as far as 6th, despite having loads of wind tunnel and CFD time. The team aren't completely useless as designing a quick car, yet without fail they develop into a complete turd. Why? Lance Stroll. At least that's my theory. I've said it before and it's based off of the results. Car is quick, Alonso is doing well, Lance struggles to the point the universe is demanding his firing. Car develops backwards, gets slower, Alonso hates it, yet suddenly Lance starts to look better.
Alonso made his debut in F1 at Melbourne in 2001. They're 7 F1 drivers on the current grid for 2025 that weren't even born yet.
How much of a mountain does Newey need to climb at Aston to actually see them be competitive..... Aston Martin must be self-critical over concerning F1 trend Team boss Mike Krack wants Aston Martin to be self-critical over failing to make major steps forward with its Formula 1 car development for consecutive years
https://f1i.com/news/528841-newey-facing-two-months-behind-the-curve-start-at-aston-martin.html Adrian Newey, widely regarded as one of Formula 1's greatest design minds, is preparing for an uphill battle when he joins Aston Martin in March of this year. Following his surprise departure from Red Bull, where he played a pivotal role in the team's dominance over the past 14 years, Newey's new challenge lies in spearheading Aston Martin's efforts to capitalize on the upcoming 2026 F1 regulation overhaul. However, due to restrictions imposed by Red Bull and the timing of his arrival, Newey acknowledges that he will start at a significant disadvantage. Newey assumes the role of Aston Martin's "managing technical partner," a newly created position that reflects the team's ambitions under owner Lawrence Stroll. His focus from the outlook will be on the 2026 regulatory changes, which bring sweeping revisions to F1's chassis and power unit specifications. While Aston Martin's new partnership with Honda for 2026 provides a solid foundation, Newey's late start means he will have to play catch-up in a tightly regulated and highly competitive environment. Speaking on a recent Autocar podcast, Newey was asked if his former employer could really stop him from brainstorming on his own on Grand Prix racing's 2026 regulation overhaul. “No, they can't, but they've blocked my tools,” the Briton explained. “So obviously, Aston wants to do the best job they can in '25, but my main kind of focus will be the '26 regulations and this big change because I start on March 2. “The aero rules come out, I think, 1 January, or might be the second, whatever the working day is. So I'll already be kind of two months behind the curve.”
Reports are Cowell is having good effect around Aston since his arrival. Cowell takes team principal role in Aston Martin F1 team restructure Erstwhile team principal Mike Krack heads up trackside operations as Aston splits responsibilities between track and factory
Mike Krack has been designated as Chief Trackside Officer. You don't often see that a team principal is demoted to a "lesser" function.
Cowell is a proven entity. Mike seems ok but perfect to manage Lance and his issues trackside for Papa. I also think Cowell is a good interface for Newey moving forward.
More on this move by Cowell: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/andy-cowell-f1-aston-martin-boss-taking-no-prisoners/ For while part of being successful in F1 is the fun aspect of hiring the best people, there is another side to it in being bold and not shying away from making changes if things are not working. We got a first glimpse of Cowell's willingness to take action last year when technical director Dan Fallows was moved aside in the wake of the failure of the squad to make progress during 2024, and especially when its Austin upgrade did not work. But ahead of the new season, Cowell has wasted no time in conducting a much deeper overhaul of an organisation that he clearly feels has not been operating in the way that he thinks it needs to. His self-appointment as team principal, Mike Krack's switch to a chief trackside officer role, and a new reporting structure that separates the trackside and factory teams for aerodynamic plus engineering/performance, is all about addressing core weaknesses he saw. In particular, it is understood that Cowell felt that there was an element of confusion between factory roles and those at the track - with people dragged too much into responsibilities for both. This led to problems with distractions and communications, and some personnel spread perhaps too thinly across roles that should have been separated. It is this desire to get people focused more on specific priorities that has triggered the move to get previous team boss Krack into his new position where he leads operations on the race weekends. This will allow Krack to concentrate on the day-to-day engineering business at each grand prix, and only need to think about bigger picture team stuff at the races Cowell will not attend. Cowell's desire is for things to be simplified and to have structures that are cleaner and not top heavy, which is why, with Krack's responsibilities changing, there is no need for the performance director position that Tom McCullough previously held. As someone who earned a reputation for producing the most efficient engines in F1, Cowell clearly has a mindset of not liking wastage in any organisation.
Lance is not showing potential just yet lol. FA is getting old. 'Hang in there' Stroll Sr lol "Impatient" Stroll supportive of Aston Martin amid struggles Lawrence Stroll's combination of support and impatience for success has led to "understanding" the difficulty of manifesting success in Formula 1
On one hand, credit where it's due—Papa's taking the Dad of the Year podium, no question. But then again, is that really the win? What about carving out your own legacy, stepping out of the slipstream? I’m just too naive, too sentimental. I wanted to believe the "planted idea" that the dad in Inception wanted his son to be his own man., alas - the world is more There will be blood I guess, step in line or I drink your milkshake.
They do need to work LOL Aston Martin won "championship for most updates" but must focus on making them work
Lance won't drive for ever, and may step down in a couple of years. Alonso is near retirement, and I don't expect him to carry on beyond 2026. Therefore there should be 2 seats to fill at Aston in the next few years. Adrian Newey may have a say in the choice of drivers in future.
