McCullough Reveals Limited Gains in AMR24 Upgrade

McCullough details modest improvements in the AMR24, signaling minimal progress in upgrades.

The team needs to talk less and perform more: this is how Fernando Alonso sharply expressed his frustration with Aston Martin F1’s performance after a series of very disappointing Grands Prix.

This weekend in Hungary, the Spaniard’s nerves will be severely tested, as it is at this Grand Prix that Aston Martin F1 will introduce crucial upgrades for the second half of the season. Should they fail to deliver the expected performance, one would not want to be in the team leaders’ shoes!

Particularly in the shoes of Tom McCullough, the performance head at Aston Martin F1.

However, he first seeks to downplay the significance of the upgrades at the Hungaroring: thus, one should not expect miracles…

“The proof of the pudding is always in the eating (sic!), as we have seen with these regulations over the past years.”

“The upgrades at the Hungaroring are a reasonable change in the philosophy of the car, but with all these things, it is relative, relatively small.”

“The car will not move from where it currently is to the front of the grid, it will rather be a question of whether it is heading in the right direction – to address the issues we are facing and to what extent, we will see.”

“The step we are taking is more significant in Hungary, yes, but we will see.”

Tom McCullough later specifies that Aston Martin F1 is facing production issues. Therefore, parts are more likely to be expected at Spa than at the Hungaroring.

“We are very limited in producing the main parts of these upgrades in time, so we are aiming them for Hungary. But there will also be parts specific to each circuit, like the low-drag rear wing, for Spa.”

An AMR24 that does not instill enough confidence in its drivers

Nonetheless, the comparison between 2023 and 2024 is stark for Aston Martin F1. At this time last year, the team had 196 points and six podiums. This year, they’ve only accumulated 68 points and have yet to see a podium.

But what is going wrong with the AMR24, according to Tom McCullough?

“We have balance characteristics that have made the car a bit more challenging to tune and drive, but most people are struggling with these issues.”

“We haven’t made any major changes to the car over the last few races, and the changes [for Silverstone, with a new front wing] were part of the normal development process.”

“We had the same car in Canada as at Silverstone, and we had a much more competitive weekend in Montreal, and we understand why.”

There are encouraging signs for Aston Martin F1 nonetheless. Firstly, the new wing from Silverstone seems to have yielded some results, with the team securing a double points finish. However, the AMR24 remains notably unstable, particularly in high-speed corners and the longer turns.

Tom McCullough provides some details on these challenges…

“Since the winter testing in Bahrain, compared to last year’s car, we have noticed certain characteristics that we have tried to work on to reduce. We’re balancing that by adding more downforce too, because with the characteristics we have, if we just add efficient aerodynamic support, the car goes faster. We all know this. So, we are balancing these two elements.”

“The car’s balance may be harder to achieve in the longer corners. It’s more challenging than on circuits with much shorter turns. The balance isn’t as ideal in these cases.”

“So we are playing with this compromise. Ultimately, we want a car that is easy to work on track, easy to drive for the drivers, and performs better.”