2023 Aston Martin Set to be ‘Very Different’ from 2022 Predecessor – Tom McCullough

Tom McCullough has revealed that the 2023 offering from the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team will be significantly different to what was seen on track in 2022, with the team putting into practice what they learned throughout the previous FIA Formula 1 World Championship season.

Aston Martin endured a tough 2022 season where they scored only fifty-five points, twenty-two points less than they achieved in 2021, although they remained in seventh place in the Constructors’ Championship.

The new regulations did not seem to suit the Silverstone-based team in the early stages, but they continued to update the AMR22 throughout the year, and it ended on a positive note with points finishes in nine of the final eleven races, including consecutive sixth place finishes in the Singapore and Japanese Grand Prix.

Aston Martin’s performances in the second half of the season was pleasing to see for Technical Director McCullough, and although the mid-season technical directive surrounding the design of the floor of the cars aimed at reducing porpoising was brought in, it had next to no effect on the team.

McCullough says the updates they introduced to their floor, as well as smaller updates around the rest of the car, saw the team improve their performance, and it brought them closer to the front of the field.

“I think, for us, [the Technical Directive] maybe affected some of the other teams but that didn’t really have an impact on our operating the car,” McCullough said to PlanetF1.com.

“We actually brought quite large floor updates to several events. Obviously, Singapore was the final one, but we had one in Paul Ricard as well as Silverstone.  Actually, some of our updates, the ones that look physically smaller, have actually produced the most performance as well.

“So, for us, it’s just been about, ‘right, we’re here, how do we just keep developing on this car?’  The bits that we’ve brought from the wind tunnel to the track, have actually largely all done what they should have been doing.

“Which was just, all the time, giving us a bit more performance but also a bit wider operating window on the car.

“Ultimately, the cost cap is quite a key thing there. The [2023] car we have in the wind tunnel at the moment is very different to the one we’ve got now.”