With F1 2022 now in the peak of its 'launch season', Aston Martin have come out all guns blazing to start the new era of technical regulations. While Haas and Red Bull carried out launches in recent days, these were merely of studio renders, in Haas' case, and an apparently repainted model car, in Red Bull's case. But Aston Martin opted to reveal their actual 2022 race car, becoming the first of the teams to show off the car they will race with this season. Immediately after the launch at Aston Martin Lagonda headquarters in Gaydon in the UK, the car was packed away and sent to Silverstone. The team are carrying out a full shakedown of the AMR22 on Friday, with race drivers Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll both taking the wheel for a combined maximum 100 kilometres of track time. Every team is given two 'filming days' a year, with many opting to use the first of these as a means to shake down their cars before the crucial pre-season tests. Aston Martin have since shared images from the shakedown , with Stroll heading out on track at the wheel of the AMR22. Given that Aston Martin have hit the track with their 2022 car before many of the teams have even offered a first glimpse of theirs, Technical Director Andrew Green has explained why they have gone so aggressive with getting the car up and running.
Aston Martin want "time to react"
Green stated that the intent behind the early shakedown is to ensure Aston Martin have plenty of time to react to any potential issues with the car before pre-season testing, given how new the onboard systems and designs are. "What we wanted to do was shake [the car] down as early as possible to check the systems out on the car and give us some time between the shakedown and [the] Barcelona test," Green told select members of the media, including RacingNews365.com at the car launch. "That was the reason for shaking down [on Friday], so we have time to react. Hopefully, we have a good shakedown, and there's nothing to react to! "The car is absolutely brand new with no carryover at all. Pre-season testing is really short and the second test is so close to the first race, [so] it is going to be almost impossible to react." With the first test kicking off in Barcelona on 23 February, Green said a buffer of almost two weeks helped them decide on the launch and shakedown dates. "We thought it's good to get a shakedown in, prior to the first test, [which] give ourselves a gap between the shakedown and the first test to react to – that's where we came to the shakedown date," he explained. "It just made sense to launch the day before, when we had the car effectively ready, so that was the logic behind it."
Why not do a livery launch?
Asked why Aston Martin have not taken the approach that many teams are expected to do and reveal a repainted mock-up of the 2022 car, rather than give away any secrets at such an early stage before testing, Green laughed. "We're an honest bunch; we're not trying to deceive!" he said. "We had a car available and we didn't want to do a livery launch. We're beyond doing livery launches this year; we wanted to do the real thing." Regardless of the different approaches taken by the teams to the early stages of this season, the Aston Martin man believes it will not be long until there is convergence across the field. "I think we will see different approaches initially," he commented. "There are lots of different ways of approaching the problem with the 2022 regulations. Initially, you'll see a few variations, similar to a theme. "But I don't think it'll be long before we all align, as far as the big visual aspects of the car [are concerned]."
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The sight and sound we've all been missing... 🔥 #AMR22 #WeClimbTogether pic.twitter.com/WkF9mLy9iD — Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team (@AstonMartinF1) February 11, 2022
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