F1 | Aston Martin: small news on the fund also in Austin

Although team principal Mike Krack does not want to raise too much expectations about overtaking possibilities, Aston Martin has targeted Alfa Romeo for sixth place in the Constructors’ World Championship. The jump at the end of the year could be worth almost eight million dollars more in prizes, not exactly two pretzels and that’s it …

Lawrence Stroll’s team, after a very difficult start to the championship with the double-bottomed AMR22 that had sunk it even in the last place in the team standings, has definitely changed its pace, giving substance to a comeback that has led to overtaking first Williams and then AlphaTauri and Haas, having the opportunity to climb to sixth place in a final rush with the “snake”.

Alfa Romeo can still count on seven points of advantage: the gap may seem important with four GPs to go to the end of the season, but if we look at the progress of the second part of the championship we discover that the team from Hinwil has put a small point in the game bag. Monza with Guanyu Zhou, the only one pigeonholed in the last nine GPs, against the twenty-seven of the Silverstone team.

Sebastian Vettel sixth in Japan with the Aston Martin AMR22

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Sebastian Vettel’s sixth place in the Japanese GP earned eight valuable points: the German, on a track he likes very much like Suzuka’s, was able to make the switch to intermediate tires pay off immediately after the restart (as did Nicholas Latifi with Williams), but also benefited from the technical update that was introduced in the Japanese race.

After converting to sloping bellies, the Aston Martin found a good line of development: the revised and corrected AMR22 seemed capable of delivering a good race pace, while showing some difficulties in the flying lap.

Detail of the bottom of the Aston Martin AMR22 at the Japanese GP

Photo by: Giorgio Piola

With the debut of a new fund at Suzuka, the “verdona” was able to improve its behavior even in qualifying: the changes desired by Dan Fallows and Luca Furbatto concerned the lateral trailing edge of the pavement. In the first part of the floor a longitudinal nolder was mounted which precedes a horizontal triangular flap. In the second half of the fund the design becomes similar to the solutions of Ferrari and Red Bull (rejected by Max Versappen at Silverstone).

The appearance of the slot in front of the rear wheel complete with a transverse carbon tongue has also imposed the adoption of a metal tie-rod which serves to avoid the bending of the bottom in the terminal part. The eye on the side of the rear wheel has also changed to a less spherical design than before.

Aston Martin AMR22: here is the beam wing that has been seen in Japan

Photo by: Giorgio Piola

At Suzuka, a medium downforce circuit, the beam wing was also modified with the two elements very close and almost overlapping. According to rumors, even in the United States GP there could be a further development of the fund to give continuity to the Aston Martin comeback.

In Austin it will be important to adapt the characteristics of the car to the bumps of the asphalt: it is true that the American organizers have resurfaced a good part of the track to reduce the annoying oscillations, but the Texas track is on an unstable orographically they will have to deal with the hopping.

This is why it will be important to have a bottom that is not overly sensitive to changes in height. These are news that still fall within the 2022 cap budget: Aston Martin cannot afford to enter the controversy because it is already under observation by the FIA ​​for not respecting the 2021 spending limits at a procedural level …