Aston Martin's hope of making further "aggressive" Formula 1 developments in 2022 have been impacted by the cost cap, the team have admitted. Under the new financial regulations, teams are allowed to spend $145 million in a season, although costs such as marketing and the salaries of the top three individuals in the team are exempt. One knock-on effect of this has been limiting teams in the frequency of upgrades they can bring, with Aston launching a brand-new concept at the Spanish Grand Prix after their initial launch design proved well off the pace. And Aston's performance director Tom McCullough has now admitted in bringing that concept change in Barcelona has impacted on developments further in the season.
Aston's development push
As recently as the Singapore Grand Prix, Aston Martin languished ninth in the Constructors' with drivers Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll hauling 25 points between them as the AMR22 struggled to impress. However, a splurge of points finishes have followed in the races since, with the team banking 24 in the three races across Singapore-Japan-United States to vault up to seventh in the standings, right behind Alfa Romeo. Minor upgrades have continued to flow, including a high-downforce rear wing, but McCullough admits that certain "aggressive" plans have had to be shelved. "We want to get to the front of the midfield pack and then start charging ahead – to do that, we've got to be aggressive," he explained. "We tried to be aggressive as we could this year, but with the budget cap and resources available this has been difficult. "There are parts that we would love to have made. The front wing, for example is largely the same as the one with which we started the year. "There's so much we could have done, but we couldn't afford to within the budget cap – especially after the significant changes we made to car in Barcelona. "The formula has changed somewhat. "Now, it's about trying to pick the upgrades that will give you the best performance return versus the cost."
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