Why Aston Martin have faith their future upgrades will deliver

Aston Martin Team Representative Pedro de la Rosa is hopeful that all of the evidence suggests the squad’s future upgrades will deliver for them, with the Spaniard acknowledging that the drivers are racing with a “very difficult car” until that happens.

It has been a challenging start to the campaign for the Silverstone-based outfit, the AMR26 having been affected by reliability issues as well as generally lacking pace in comparison to the team’s competitors.

While there have been some signs of progress along the way – including the resolution of the vibration issues that the car had been experiencing – De la Rosa does not feel that there will be any significant improvement until updates arrive in the summer.

When asked at the Monaco Grand Prix is there is light at the end of the tunnel yet for Aston Martin, the former F1 driver answered: “Definitely not yet. We are where we are. It’s a difficult start, especially because we are in a position that we were not expecting to be in.

“However, there are really a lot of things happening behind the scenes in the factory which makes us believe that the upgrades, all the significant changes that we will introduce around the summer, will deliver.

“But we have to talk about what we have right now, and what we have right now is a very difficult car, drivers that are doing their best and they’re doing absolutely an incredible job to drive the car as fast as they can in a reliable and safe way. But it is difficult.

“I would prefer to delay this when we see the light, when the actual upgrades are running and we can rely on facts. My words, we’ve been talking so much about what can be and the light at the end of the tunnel that sometimes it’s a bit just repeating ourselves a bit too much.”

As well as commending drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll for how they have handled the situation, De la Rosa went on to praise the approach of Team Principal Adrian Newey, who the Spaniard previously worked with whilst acting as a test driver for McLaren in the early 2000s when Newey was Technical Director at the Woking-based squad.

“I see no difference whatsoever in Adrian [since then],” De la Rosa said. “He’s working flat out. His work ethic is outstanding.

“He’s one of those engineers that always listens to the driver more than anyone I’ve ever worked with, which is really beautiful to see as a former driver, because nowadays in this modern world where data is taking over, you sometimes talk with an engineer and they’re looking at the screen, they’re looking at your face, and they don’t know if it’s the data right or you are right.

"With Adrian, he’s just writing your comments in a notebook.

“And what makes him special is that actually he delivers. It’s great to see him in the team, really. He’s a great leader and someone that is truly inspirational for all of us and for so many young engineers that have joined Aston Martin.”