Aston Martin F1 Director Explains Stroll-Vettel Role in Updating Each Car Part ‘Licked by the Wind’

Aston Martin are taking advantage of the summer break pretty well. With decent performances over the first half of the season, their drivers, Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel, are putting in the work behind the simulator to better prepare themselves for the second half as well.

Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll working to improve Aston Martin’s season

Praising Stroll and Vettel for their efforts in the sim, the Performance Director of the British team, Tom McCullough said, “There is almost no externally visible part of our car that has not been improved in some way between Bahrain and Silverstone. Or, to put it another way, if a part of our car is licked by the wind, we have probably updated it at some point over the past four months.”

On the role of their drivers in car development, he added, “We have been impressed by both Lance and Sebastian so far this year. Lance is a very hard worker. He has done a large number of sessions in our simulator, and his contribution has been very significant.”

He added, “Our ‘new boy’, Sebastian, was at first disadvantaged by his initial unfamiliarity with the way our car operates and feels, then by the unreliability that he suffered in the pre-season test in Bahrain.

“But he has worked very diligently since then, in our simulator at the factory and at the circuits, to help us analyse our previous races with a view to preparing for our upcoming races in the best way possible,” he concluded.

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Will the hard work of Aston Martin pay off at Spa?

While most teams are taking it easy during the summer break, Aston Martin are putting in the work to redeem themselves for the rest of the season.

At the recent Hungarian GP, the Silverstone-based squad endured a painful heartbreak, as their four-time world champion was disqualified after finishing second due to a technical regulation.

On the other side of the garage, Stroll had an early retirement due to the chaos caused in the opening lap at the Hungaroring. Hence, the team endured a points-less weekend, and will be looking to rectify that post the break.

Do you think the work the Silverstone-based team is putting behind the simulator will be fruitful in the second half of the season? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

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