Aston Martin chief teases 2022 Mercedes and Red Bull plans as ‘very different’ F1 expected

F1: Vettel insists he can win races at Aston Martin

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Otmar Szafnauer is confident his Aston Martin drivers can push the team towards the front of the grid in 2022. With a new era of the sport beginning next season due to a swathe of technical rule changes, the team principal hopes the team can begin to challenge frontrunners Mercedes, Red Bull and McLaren for points and podiums.

It comes as Aston Martin announced an unchanged lineup for next season, with four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll deemed to be the ideal pairing to bring success to the team.

That’s despite a 2021 campaign so far which hasn’t yet yielded the sort of results Szafnauer and team owner Lawrence Stroll would have hoped for in their maiden season as an Aston Martin team.

After just being pipped to third place in the 2020 constructors’ standings under the Racing Point moniker, they will have hoped to have gone one better this time around.

Instead, they trail current third-placed team McLaren by 156 points and sit seventh, having been overtaken so far by Ferrari, Alpine and AlphaTauri.

Still, Szafnauer has backed his drivers to get the very best out of the team’s 2022 car.

He said: “Lance is one of the most gifted drivers in modern Formula One, and to that raw talent he is now adding serious racecraft.

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“A four-time world champion, having driven 271 Grands Prix, of which he has won 53, Sebastian is also a massive asset to our team, and next year we expect both of them to race well in what will be a very different formula from the current one.

“We never under-estimate our opposition, so we do not intend to over-promise, but we know that Lance and Sebastian will get the very best from the tools we will put at their disposal.”

Lawrence Stroll echoed that messaged and blamed rule changes ahead of the current season which “disadvantaged” the team for its poor performance so far.

He said: “The first ever season for Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One team got off to a disappointing start, owing to the regulatory changes over the winter that disadvantaged the two teams whose cars utilise a low-rake aero philosophy.

“But we have made good progress over the past few months, and both Lance and Sebastian have delivered some excellent performances.

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“They have had more than their fair share of bad luck, but in 2022 we are delighted to be continuing with such an excellent blend of youthful talent and experienced expertise.”

There had been rumours that this season might have been Vettel’s last in F1 having enjoyed a long and successful career in the sport, but he will be on the grid for at least one more year and will hope to be more competitive.

“I am really looking forward to racing the new generation of Formula One cars, the 34-year-old said.

“Their look is very different and the new technical regulations should give us cars that can race much more closely than recently. More exciting racing will be great for the drivers as well as for the fans.

“The changes are so big that every team will be starting from a new beginning, so it will be a great opportunity for us at Aston Martin.”

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