By Carlo Platella
The veils fall on the AMR24, officially inaugurating the new season of Aston Martin. Expectations are high around the Silverstone team, whose technical director Dan Fallows expressed great satisfaction with the progress recorded on the simulator and in the wind tunnel. The objective is to achieve the much coveted first victory, but much will depend on the leap that the competition will have made in turn, as Lance Stroll does not fail to underline.
Six tenths earned
“I'm really excited about the new car”Lance Stroll's comment during the press conference on the sidelines of the presentation of the AMR24. “We worked starting from last year's car, which was very competitive, enhancing your strengths and reinforcing the critical issues that emerged from track to track. I'm excited for the start of the championship, but also for the journey during the season. We want to improve the car from race to race.”
The Canadian has already had the opportunity to test the new car on the simulator, but the first impressions are not sufficient to state whether the AMR24 will require a different driving style: “Really hard to say. Simulators are still simulators. The car, however, is an evolution of last year.” In the final round of 2023, the best of the Aston Martins qualified 3 tenths behind McLaren. Any overtaking, however, will also depend on the work done by the Woking team. “It depends on what McLaren did”, comments Stroll, who reveals: “We recovered those three tenths and found three more”.
The comparison with Alonso
2023 saw an important difference in performance between Alonso and Stroll, but the Canadian hopes to be able to redeem himself: “Fernando was simply faster last year. I have some ideas on what to work on to improve. I don't want to talk about luck, but I think I also had a bit of bad luck last year, which made things more challenging. There were several races where we had some technical problems and things just didn't work out in our favor.”
In the direct comparison with his teammate, Stroll was also penalized by missing the tests in Bahrain, following the injury suffered on the bike. In this regard, the Canadian jokes about the team's recommendations, in order to avoid a repeat of what happened: “My apartment is lined with pillows and I'm not allowed to go out!”, jokes Stroll. “I'm allowed to run. I pay close attention to my steps while running. I try not to take any turns and run in a straight line.” Taking part in the tests will certainly be an important help for the Aston Martin standard bearer, but he is aware of racing alongside one of the most uncomfortable teammates in the entire Circus.
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