After a challenging start to the 2022 campaign, where the Silverstone-based squad had to change concept early on, it believes it has made a good step over the winter.
Technical director Dan Fallows said the new AMR23 was 95% different from its predecessor, with the outfit having adopted some key changes heading in to 2023.
This includes a heavily revised front wing, new sidepods that incorporate a much more aggressive sweeping inner ramp, and a different engine cover that includes a larger roll hoop inlet.
Fallows said that Aston Martin had not wanted to hold back in pushing the boundaries of what was possible, as it set sights on moving up the grid.
“The design team was adamant that it wanted to tackle these regulations without compromise,” he said. “We want to move up the grid and start challenging the teams at the front – and you can’t do that by sitting back and being conservative.
“AMR23 is a significant development of the car we refined in the latter half of 2022 – and we have improved it in every critical area. It optimises the solutions we felt would offer us the most performance, and it embodies the joint vision we have embraced and have built together over the recent months.”
Despite the extensive nature of the changes to the car, Fallows was clear that the team had carried over a lot of the positives of last year’s car.
“We went into this year trying to be bold and aggressive, to try to take on the lessons from last year,” he said.
“We did make quite a bit of progress through AMR22. We wanted to make sure that this is a sensible evolution of that, but it also gives us a really good platform to develop on.
“But, at the same time, we wanted to make sure that it was aggressive: to give a big challenge to all of the engineering team to make sure that they really push themselves. And I think you can see that, in the design of the car.”
The arrival of Fernando Alonso is a big boost to the team this year, and the Spaniard said he hoped the AMR23 would deliver a strong baseline for the team to start putting pressure on the top three teams.
“We definitely have to, if possible, lead that midfield, and get closer to the top three teams,” he explained. “The most important thing for me this year is just to make sure that this car and this baseline is the one that we will develop for the future Aston Martin cars. I think last year the package had some difficulties, as we all saw from the outside.
“I think the team went through a few things during the season and they improve a lot at the end of the year. So those difficulties for sure are very good when you understand them and you can programme something from that car.
“This is the real first car with this new set of regulations that hopefully Aston Martin can develop in the future.
“So that will be for me the biggest thing this year, that we can develop throughout the season, and we can finish 2023 knowing that this is a car and a baseline for the future Aston Martin cars.”
New factory progress
Aston Martin launched its AMR23 inside its new factory, which is due to be completed in the next few months before the team moves across.
Work on the first phase should be completed by this spring with the final elements, including the windtunnel and simulator, ready for operation by the end of 2024.
Team owner Lawrence Stroll said having the new facility on tap would be a game changer for the squad.
“This year’s move into our new state-of-the-art factory is more than just a serious statement of intent,” he said.
“It will considerably strengthen and empower every single individual in this organisation, helping us to deliver on our ambition to narrow the gap to the front of the grid and, in time, become genuine championship frontrunners.”
