Andy Cowell: “Aston Martin must focus on the efficiency of its parts”
The new team manager said he was proud that the team had installed so many updates this season. However, he stressed the importance of analyzing them correctly and effectively before introducing them into the single-seaters.
A season that did not live up to the team’s ambitions. In 2024, Aston Martin experienced a disappointing season, marked by a fifth place in the constructors’ standings, well ahead of Alpine but far behind Mercedes. An anomaly for a team that has a budget and infrastructures supposedly allowing it to be at the forefront. However, while the work done externally is fruitful, internally, the team faces difficulties, particularly in terms of car development. Since last season, an alarming observation stands out: each new part introduced by the British team seems ineffective.
Read also: The new head of Aston Martin undertakes internal reorganization before the start of the 2025 season
Updates that did not advance the single-seater
After scoring points in the first six rounds, Lawrence Stroll’s team took advantage of the start of the European tour to introduce numerous upgrades at Imola. Among these: a brand new floor, a front wing, rear suspension geometry, and sidepods. The goal was to get a little closer to the four leading teams. However, these developments had the opposite effect: the car ultimately regressed.
During the next four races, the Silverstone-based team only managed to score points once, in Canada. This trend continued throughout the season. Despite multiple upgrades, the car never seemed to close in on the race leaders and was even outperformed by Haas, Alpine, and Racing Bulls by the end of the season.
Further analyses to be performed
For the new director, Andy Cowell, this situation is inconceivable. According to him, the team must review its operations. Rather than striving desperately to introduce changes, they should first analyze them thoroughly at the factory to ensure they work before installing them on the single-seaters and making them efficient. There’s no lack of effort within the entire team, explained the Briton, fully aware that the engineers are working tirelessly to find solutions. However, efficiency must now be prioritized within the structure.
« We clearly won the world championship for the number of updates in 2024, but these updates did not reduce lap times – and what everyone wants in this field is to reduce lap times. That doesn’t mean we have to be right every time. I’ve seen statistics showing that, in true research and development environments, a success rate of 20% is considered high. »
« If we can achieve a 20% success rate, that’s good, but it needs to happen at the AMR technology campus, not on the track. » For the former engine head at Mercedes, the key to Aston Martin’s success lies in its ability to leverage the tools at its disposal and make updates more efficient.
A technical efficiency to be found
« We need to ensure that all our tools and processes at the technology campus work well enough for each update brought to the track to have at least a 90% chance of working and meeting our expectations. This is not easy to achieve, but it is what we must aim for. We have very powerful CFD tools and the most advanced wind tunnel in the sport, which will soon be operational. »
« There will always be a risk that the data does not fully match what we find on the track, but our simulations can give us a strong direction. I am confident that we can reach a point where we are right 90% of the time. This is the level at which world champion teams operate, so that must be our minimum goal. »
Winning titles remains Aston Martin’s goal.
If Aston Martin is still far from the front positions, the goal remains the same: to win championships. For the one who replaced Mike Krack as team principal, this goal, although difficult to achieve, motivates the entire staff to give their best to try to reach it. It is acceptable to set a goal without knowing how to achieve it at the start – a goal that people believe is impossible in terms of time and performance. The next step is to break things down.
« Everyone wants the fastest car, but the only way to achieve that is by setting extremely ambitious goals that will really push you. That’s why we are here – there’s no point in designing and building an F1 car that isn’t the fastest. Formula 1 is competitive ingenuity. People in this sport are pioneers. You have to be if you want to achieve the ambition of becoming world champion, and that is our ambition. »
If Aston Martin’s ambitions are high, the reality on the track is currently quite different. Despite this, the arrival of Adrian Newey and recent investments add a more positive dimension to the project. What if Aston Martin, the disappointment of the 2024 season, becomes the pleasant surprise of 2025? Tune in at the opening round in Melbourne, on March 16, to find out.
