Aston Martin’s muted performance in the Formula 1 season opener was a “negative surprise” for a team that lost its lead driver in the build-up to the weekend.
Sebastian Vettel’s positive COVID-19 test left Aston Martin with Lance Stroll as its only reference from pre-season testing as reserve driver Nico Hulkenberg stepped in to drive the AMR22 for the first time.
Aston Martin had an uncompetitive Bahrain Grand Prix in Vettel’s absence, with both drivers eliminated in Q1 and never troubling the point-paying positions in the race.
It is unlikely that the presence of four-time world champion Vettel would have transformed Aston Martin’s weekend but team principal Mike Krack acknowledged it was an unfortunate factor.
“It came at the point where we really do not need it,” said Krack. “Because you have no references at all [versus other teams in testing]. And then you change your driver at the last moment.
“So that leaves you with only one reference, which is always quite dangerous.
“It’s difficult for Nico, obviously, to jump in like that. He has no reference either. He didn’t test, so you are a bit in the dark.
“For sure it was not a help. But still that does not say that the car is quick.”
Aston Martin is not sure yet whether Vettel will recover in time to race in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix this weekend.
If not, as Krack indicated, it will not be Aston Martin’s limiting factor. The team has estimated porpoising is costing it upwards of half a second.
While that phenomenon has been improved since the start of testing, it left Aston Martin unsure where it stood in the pecking order before Bahrain and was a big part of its lack of competitiveness in the race itself.
“When we came here every team had its problems,” said Krack. “So we were not 100% sure where we were to be honest.
“We had to work all winter testing around these problems. I think we’re not the only ones. So we didn’t really know where we were.
“It was a surprise. A negative one, unfortunately.”
Krack claims its porpoising troubles are not linked to a “fundamental design problem” and can be alleviated through development of the existing package.
Aston Martin was already aware of the limitations of its car prior to last weekend, it just did not know where that would leave it in the competitive order.
“You run with a compromise,” said Krack. “And at one point, you have to say how much compromise I will keep carrying on.
“It’s a choice that you have to make at the end of the day. And first of all, you need to operate the car reliably. With the porpoising [at its worst] you cannot run a race.”
He added: “When you compare it to the first test in Barcelona, the level of porpoising that we had here is none, basically.”
Aston Martin should have further updates to the AMR22 for Jeddah, although the high-speed street track has very different characteristics to Bahrain so a direct comparison will be tricky.
But it will be a test of whether this is more problematic than Aston Martin simply starting on the back foot, with Stroll summarising the Bahrain GP as “just getting to the end was more of the goal”.
Krack, who left BMW Motorsport to lead Aston Martin, said the situation meant he could not say he was enjoying his F1 return after more than a decade away just yet.
“It is not fun at the moment,” he said. “I don’t want to be in these places where we are.
“But also I need to be humble because it’s not that you come in this league here and then destroy everybody.
“Obviously, I’m not happy.”
