F1 2021 Aston Martin Car Launch Review: James Punt
F1 2021 Aston Martin New Car Launch Review
F1 2021 Aston Martin – The sixth reincarnation of the former Jordan Grand Prix team, originally started back in 1991. This is a team whose history is one of punching above its weight, delivering race wins against the odds and delivering the best return on investment of any team on the grid. At times, such as the Midland and Spyker days, it was chronically underfunded and struggled. But, when taken over and re-branded as Force India, it returned to competitiveness.
Sadly, Vijay Mallya’s business failures led to Force India to go into administration in 2018. It was once again taken over, this time by Canadian Businessman Lawrence Stroll, who rebranded it Racing Point. He brought new investment to the team which saw a return to form, podium finishes and a Grand Prix win in the penultimate race of the 2020 season.
Lawrence Stroll had bought a stake in Aston Martin in 2020. It was inevitable that Racing Point would morph into Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One™ Team. It is essentially the Racing Point team in new clothes.
Perez Departs
The one big change is they will be without long time lead driver, Sergio Perez, who, remarkably, was dropped by the team to make way for Sebastian Vettel. Lawrence Stroll’s son, Lance, will continue to drive for the team. Sergio Perez had been with the team for nine years in its various guises and he will be missed. He was arguably the team’s biggest asset in terms of driving talent and in terms of the sponsors he brough to the team.
A driver line up of Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll does have a big question mark over it. Vettel is a four-time World Champion and no doubt the team wanted a ‘star’ name to go with the Aston Martin name. But is that star on the wane?
He had a poor car at Ferrari last season, but the fact is that he finished the season in 13th place with 33 points. That did not compare well to his teammate, Charles Leclerc who finished 8th with 98 points. That was the second year in a row he had been beaten by Ferrari’s new boy. Will a change of scenery be enough for Vettel to rediscover his mojo? Or is he on the inevitable path to retirement?
Is Stroll Up To The Task?
Lance Stroll has taken a lot of stick for only being in F1 thanks to his father’s money. He is not alone in this fact and not many drivers get a seat in Formula 1 without having financial backing. Talent is often a secondary consideration. But is Lance Stroll worthy of a seat in an ambitious team?
He won the Italian F4 Championship in 2014 and the Formula 3 European Championship in 2016. He was 12th in his debut season with Williams in 2017 and finished one place better for Racing Point last year. Stroll has only beaten one teammate, Sergey Sirotkin, in his four-year career. He was soundly beaten by Sergio Perez in the last two seasons at Racing Point. It isn’t a CV that should be getting him a seat at a team looking to join the elite teams.
Last year’s car, the Pink Mercedes, was the third fastest car on the grid after the team decided to drop the high rake concept and basically copied the Mercedes design to go with the Mercedes power units. It made a positive difference. This year the team are going further with the Mercedes link. They will be using the same suspension layout as last year’s Mercedes which was designed to increase rear end grip and stability. It allowed a more aggressive turn in and did away with some of the draw backs of having a long wheelbase.
Car Should Suit Vettel
A more stable rear end is also something that Sebastian Vettel didn’t have at Ferrari last year. Consequently, the chances are, that he is going to be a lot more comfortable with this car. The team have gone as far as to say that they will do as much as they can to give Vettel the handling he needs in a car, and a more sympathetic team environment. Leading a poor Ferrari team was tough for Vettel. Now, that sort of pressure is now off his shoulders. This season should be a more enjoyable one for the German.
This Aston Martin will not be a copy of last year’s Mercedes, but a copy of the 2019 Mercedes but with the 2020 suspension. It will not be a Mercedes beater, but it is going to be better than last year’s Racing Point. Taking these old Mercedes parts is also a ‘token free’ upgrade and means that Aston could use its token’s elsewhere on the car.
The team say that the 2021 F1 Aston Martin car is a carry through of last year’s philosophy (a Mercedes copy) but that the chassis is new and there are lots of new parts and aerodynamic changes. Most teams are being more conservative and concentrating on 2022, but Aston Martin have more at stake than most. They are re-launching the team in a new guise and need to make a good impression.
Racing Point did a good job of copying the Mercedes design, but more importantly, making it work. They were still some way off the kosher Mercedes but with a years’ experience of the design under their belt, they will have learned more about it and how to get better performance from it.
More Money
More money doesn’t always equal more success but Racing Point did move in the right direction after their most recent take over. With a car design that should suit Vettel much more than last year’s Ferrari, they could have a re-energised four-time World Champion back on song. They were very much in the fight for third place last year, finishing fourth, but they had 15 points deducted for illegally copying parts of the Mercedes. Those 15 points was the difference between third and fourth place. Expect them to be very much in the mix for third place once again.
It will be fascinating to see the battle between Aston Martin and McLaren as both aim to close the gap to the top two. Both teams are certainly capable of picking up podiums on merit and if the cards fall the right way, both may be able to win a race and it is a long time since it was realistic to see more than just two or three teams being able to win races.
Car Launch
The car looks very different thanks to it predominantly green colour. There is a pink stripe to recognise that BWT remain as a sponsor. In fact, one of the most striking things about the new livery, is the number of different sponsors/partners. Thirteen different company logos are on the car. You can see that with a cost cap in place and lots of new sponsors, it will be possible to make a profit at this racing malarky.
The resemblance to the Mercedes is there of course. It is a carry-over from last year’s car, but they have built a new chassis to facilitate improved power unit cooling. Last year’s layout was said to be inefficient in that area. The aerodynamics have been reworked to try and claw back downforce lost to the new regulations.
The low rake concept is retained in line with the Mercedes design. It has the new, improved Mercedes power unit, a Mercedes gear box, Mercedes rear suspension, and a Mercedes rear crash structure. That is all perfectly legal, but it is a lot of Mercedes. Copying the best car makes a lot of sense.
It is a reworking of last year’s car but more refined aerodynamically. The Mercedes rear suspension should be a fairly decent step in terms of performance. There has been a lot of attention to detail, in much the same way as Mercedes. Lots of small improvements that add up to a better car.
First Step Towards The Top
This is the first step in Aston Martin’s quest to reach the top within five years. The cost cap era is upon us and this business plan of Lawrence Stroll’s looks completely credible. He has delivered the resources and his designers have delivered a very good looking and engineered car.
Of course, being a Mercedes copy means that they are unlikely to be a match for the real one. However, they should get a lot closer. As Mercedes start to feel the restrictions of the cost cap and less wind tunnel time etc., they will fall back towards the chasing pack. Aston Martin will be at the front of that pack.
Given a little luck, this car could win a race or two this year. They managed one last year and this will be a better car. All in all, this is a team on the up. It is now up to the drivers to deliver their end of the bargain. I am still not sure about Lance Stroll. A decent pedaller, good off the line but a potential World Champion?
Not for me, unless he was in the very best car. Vettel we know is a multiple World Champion so we know he can do it, but it has been a while since he was competing at the front. He hasn’t impressed for the last couple of years and it remains to be seen if his best days are behind him, or that there is still life in the old dog yet.
F1 2021 Aston Martin: Vettel To Improve
I suspect that we will see a much-improved Sebastian Vettel in 2021. The pressure is there to launch this new project, but nothing like trying to lead a Ferrari team that was tanking. He is going to a team on the up and feeling positive and that will rub off on him. He can bring his experience of winning championships and working at big teams and the two parties should have a good symbiotic relationship.
Saying that Aston Martin are going to have a good season is hardly going out on a limb, but this is a team going from plucky underdog to a real contender. Baby steps at first but a top 3 finish is very possible, podium finishes a must and a win or two if the cards fall right.
