Formula 1
Aston won "championship for most updates" but must focus on making them work
Aston must be 90 per cent sure that updates will work before bringing new parts on track, according to Cowell
Jake Boxall-Legge
Edited: Jan 20, 2025, 11:05 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Aston Martin AMR24 rear wing detail
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
New Aston Martin team principal Andy Cowell reckons that although the Silverstone outfit "won the world championship for most updates" in 2024, it must work on its internal processes to ensure that new parts deliver the expected performance.
Aston Martin started the season in reasonable shape and scored points in the opening seven grands prix, but a comprehensive series of updates at the Imola race - which included an entirely new floor, front wing, rear suspension geometry and sidepod - made the car more difficult to drive.
This led to a largely barren run between Monaco and Spain, saved only by a 6-7 result at Montreal, as Aston's previously locked-in status amid the top 10 was now being challenged on a regular basis.
The volume of the team's updates through the season did not correlate with efficacy, with it being remarked upon several times that the new parts were not adding much in the way of performance.
Cowell says that the team must rethink its approach, and ensure that further validation work happens at the factory so that the team can be more confident in its updates before a race weekend.
"There is no lack of effort throughout the team. We definitely won the world championship for the most updates in 2024, but those updates didn't deliver the laptime – and what everybody wants in this business is to deliver laptime," Cowell said.
"That's not to say we must get it right every time. I've seen statistics that show that in true research and development environments, a 20 per cent success rate is high.
"If we can get a 20 per cent success rate then that's good, but the difference is that this needs to happen at the AMR Technology Campus and not at the track.
"We need to make sure that all our tools and processes at the Technology Campus are working well enough to ensure that whenever we take an update to the circuit, we are at least 90 per cent certain that it's going to work on the track and meet our expectations.
"It's not easy to achieve, but it's what we need to be aiming for. We've got very powerful CFD tools and the most advanced wind tunnel in the sport coming online but they are only simulations.
"There will always be the risk of data not quite matching up with what we find on the circuit, but our simulations can give us a robust steer and I'm confident we can get to the point where we're right 90 per cent of the time.
"That's the level that world championship-winning teams are operating at so that needs to be our aim at a minimum."
Lance Stroll, Aston Martin AMR24
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images
Cowell, who joined the team as CEO before replacing Mike Krack as team principal as the Luxembourger takes a new role at the team, says that "building a world championship-winning team is our North Star", although alluded to the idea that the team didn't yet know how to reach that target.
F1 has been littered with aspirational targets to win; for example, Renault/Alpine confounded its own "five-year plan" and subsequent "100-race plan" under old management by failing to navigate either.
By contrast, Cowell believes that setting his team the target of winning titles will "stretch" the team and give its employees something to buy into over the next few seasons.
"It's OK to set a target that you don't know how to achieve when you first set out on the journey – a target that people think is impossible both in terms of time and performance. It's then a case of breaking things down," he explained.
"Everyone wants the fastest car, but the only way you're going to get it is if you set targets that are really going to stretch you, that are wildly ambitious.
"That's what we're here to do – there's no point designing and building an F1 car that isn't the fastest.
"Formula 1 is all about competitive ingenuity. People in this sport are pioneers. You have to be if you want to fulfil the ambition of becoming a world champion. And that is our ambition."
Read Also:
Formula 1Would Verstappen really consider Aston Martin? Our writers have their say
Formula 1Another Aston Martin reshuffle: necessity, or change for the sake of it?
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Sainz-Albon partnership brings leadership to Williams, not politics - Vowles
Next article Hamilton makes first visit to Ferrari F1 factory ahead of testing debut
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jake Boxall-Legge
More from
Aston Martin Racing
FIA reveals latest ADUO results in final review of 2026 F1 season
Formula 1
Formula 1 4 d
FIA reveals latest ADUO results in final review of 2026 F1 season
Honda struggling to explain Lance Stroll’s 13th DNF of the season
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
5 d
Honda struggling to explain Lance Stroll’s 13th DNF of the season
Latest news
Why the anticlimactic WEC title showdown was the worst-case scenario
WEC
WEC WEC
Monza
15 min
Why the anticlimactic WEC title showdown was the worst-case scenario
How Istanbul is revamping its F1 circuit to clinch long-term future
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Turkish GP
1 h
How Istanbul is revamping its F1 circuit to clinch long-term future
The ten closest finishes from the 2026 NASCAR season
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup 18 h
The ten closest finishes from the 2026 NASCAR season
‘Lewis suspected a conspiracy’ – Nico Rosberg explains how Lewis Hamilton F1 rivalry went awry at Mercedes
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1 18 h
‘Lewis suspected a conspiracy’ – Nico Rosberg explains how Lewis Hamilton F1 rivalry went awry at Mercedes
Feature
Discover prime content
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Formula 1
By Kevin Turner
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe