Aston Martin addresses car development concerns

Aston Martin Performance Director Tom McCullough has addressed concerns that its recent slump in performance is down to their car development path.

Although the team scored its seventh podium of the season at the Dutch Grand Prix with Fernando Alonso, it has failed to translate its performance at the high speed circuits.

The team also suffered a disappointing weekend at the Hungarian GP, a race it tipped as being a potential one it could win alongside Monaco.

McCullough was unconcerned when speaking to media, including RacingNews365: "I think there's been a lot said about 'wrong direction' this and that, we don't really think we've done that," he said.

"We've just been on a development path, you always introduce characteristics and we made some conscious decisions to increase the base performance of the car.

"We're still on that path, we haven't gotten back on anything, still just trying to improve the overall [aerodynamic] load. It's a continual process."

McCullough: It's a relative game

Prior to the podium at Zandvoort, Aston Martin did not achieve a podium since the Canadian GP when Alonso fended off Lewis Hamilton to claim second.

The team introduce a new floor at the race, which has since seen it fall further back in the order relative to McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari.

"Ultimately, Montreal is relatively bias towards the low- and medium-speed [corners] and not a lot of high speed," said McCullough.

"The updates that we brought weren't specific for Canada or the following races, it's just part of the overall development process.

"What's happening is there's some characteristics of some tracks that are suiting our base package better and worse, then also other teams aren't standing still. It's a relative game.

"I think a lot has been made of it. Ultimately, we're just in a very tight grid. A lot of it is about getting the most out of the race weekend as well."