Aston Martin Pips Red Bull as the Heaviest F1 Challenger of the New Era

Aston Martin is having a rough season, standing at the bottom of the table with zero points. Further, the English constructor is facing a major issue with the car’s weight, which is also affecting their performance this season.

According to the new rules and regulations introduced in 2022, the minimum weight is around 798kg. The Aston Martin AMR 22 weighs 17kg above the minimum bar. After the Australian GP last week, an extra 3kg was added to the AMR22’s 815kg weight. After the Aston Martin car, Red Bull RB18 is the second heaviest car at 810kg.

Besides the weight, the team is also facing a lot of trouble with the car’s aerodynamics. According to Team Principal Mike Krack, the issue with weight can be solved, but the aero problem would be troublesome.

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“The car has potential, but we have problems with aerodynamics and weight.” Krack said, “We’ve already made progress with weight, but not with the aero. The bouncing is like a wall for development. It’s very frustrating.”

Aston Martin is not impressive so far in 2022

The British team didn’t win a single point this season and are at P10, being the only team with zero points. Meanwhile, Williams moved up after winning one point in Australia last week.

Aston Martin joined the grid last season after the rebranding of Racing Point. Owner Lawrence Stroll eyed for a title-winning team but after the three races so far it is looking more like a backmarker on the grid. The 2021 season was much better for the team compared to their current situation.

Both the Aston Martin drivers weren’t able to win a single point. Although the Australian GP was the much anticipated first race for Sebastian Vettel, it didn’t go well as the German slammed his car into the wall. Meanwhile, Lance Stroll finished P12, who also got into a controversial crash with Nicholas Latifi during Q1.

The crashes are also becoming a major reason behind holding back the development of AMR22. The British constructor has limited resources because of the budget cap. And at the moment, the team is putting the budget into fixing damages rather than introducing upgrades to improve performance.

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However, it is still too soon to give up on Aston Martin. There are still 20 races left this season and the next race is in Imola. Let’s see if the Silverstone base can move up in the standings next week.