Aston Martin 'playing different game' after 2023 success

Aston Martin's successful 2023 season now means it is 'playing a different game', according to Performance Director Tom McCullough.

The AMR23 was quick straight out of the box, and was the main challenger to Red Bull's RB19 in the early part of the season, with Fernando Alonso bagging six podiums from the first eight races.

Development stalled mid-season as upgrade packages did not quite work as intended, but the team rallied in the closing rounds to be in with a chance of fourth in the Constructors', but was pipped by McLaren.

In 2022, the team scored a best result of sixth in Azerbaijan, Singapore and Japan but scored only 55 points and finished seventh.

This points haul was more than quintupled in 2023, the team finishing on 280, with Alonso taking fourth in the Drivers' and Lance Stroll 10th, as the team went from fighting the midfield to contending for podiums, and in Monaco, even a win.

Aston's different game

"We were just saying that when you come to an event, you always read the reports and analysis from this time last year," McCullough explained to media including RacingNews365.

"If you look at the game we were playing then compared to the points we had then and the relative competitiveness of the car, to the game we are playing now, it just reminds you how much we've moved on."

Team Principal Mike Krack also added that he struggled to find any "negatives" about the season.

"If we look back, we have had eight podiums and we would struggle to find a negative," Krack said.

"If we zoom out and look at our season, I don't see any negatives, and you need to zoom out deliberately more than that as you cannot go race-by-race.

"Fernando mentioned that it should not be like football where you are judged on your path.

"These days, everybody has safe, reliable cars and is very strong in operations, so the differentiator is in performance, and you have to focus on the areas that make the performance.

"This is an area where no team is stopping, and you have to keep developing these departments and make them better, stronger and more efficient."