Rumor: Aston Martin also aims to beat Red Bull at Silverstone

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Not only is Mercedes aiming to beat the Red Bull team at Silverstone, where they are always strong, there are reports that Aston Martin will introduce further updates at the British GP in an effort to close the remaining gap to Red Bull.

According to the German outlet AMuS, simulator data from the Aston Martin factory suggests the AMR23 will soon be a match for Red Bull’s RB19.

Although fully trusting in simulator data can be a mistake, the Silverstone-based team has enjoyed a very reliable correlation between the simulator and the track during this generation of cars.

It is worth noting that technical issues in Canada in FP1 and rain on Saturday limited Aston Martin’s ability to understand its current new package, so the upcoming Austrian GP will be an opportunity to further extract the new-found potential of the AMR23.

Given where Aston Martin finished in the 2022 championship, they get 30% more wind tunnel time than last year’s championship team Red Bull.  That becomes 37% more when Red Bull’s Cost Cap penalty is added on.

F1 team Aero Testing Allowance for 2023 (100% equals 320 runs)

An important detail is that there will be a mid-year reshuffle of the above rankings on 30 June. That is when three of the six aerodynamic testing periods (ATP) will have come to an end. At that point, the table above will be changed to reflect the order of the 2023 Constructor’s Championship Standings. Based on the current calendar, that will be after the Canadian GP.

After the mid-season reset – Aston Martin is now third – the British team will have relatively less advantage in the second part of 2023 than in the current situation. Aston Martin’s third place in the championship will then be put to 80%.