At the start of pre-season testing in Bahrain, it looked like Aston Martin would be in for a tough test, with Lance Stroll pulling out of the test with an injury only days before it started.
As it turned out, Felipe Drugovich was a more than capable substitute for the Canadian and the team went on to have a very successful pre-season, encountering very little issues.
The team’s lap times were competitive even with the top teams and they looked in much better shape than Mercedes, who struggled with balance and reliability issues.
These impressive performances from Fernando Alonso and Felipe Drugovich have led fans to believe that Aston Martin could be one of the top teams this year, with Sky Sports pundit Ted Kravitz putting the team above Mercedes in his post-testing rankings.
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Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack has eased the expectations on his team however, suggesting that testing results may not be entirely reflective of where a team actually is.
“It’s very difficult on such a test to make a proper judgement,” he said.
“Last year we were P4, P4, P10 over the three days [and] we seem very similar now, and in the race weekend we were out in Q1.
“Just to tell you how much a test like that can give you an indication of where you are.”
The Aston Martin boss has admitted that his team’s results from Bahrain’s tests were encouraging but has refused to draw too many conclusions before the first race weekend of the season.
“The race simulation was certainly not bad, but we must also not forget the track conditions were really good.
“You had a lot of rubber, because there [were] other teams [using] new tyres, a lot of times also with soft rubber – this is helping you when you do a race simulation.
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“It is nice to have good long runs, but you need to put them into the right context and let’s not start dreaming. I think Fernando said it earlier, there’s not miracles in F1.”
Since joining F1 in 2021, Aston Martin have slowly been building a team of experienced staff brought in from the top teams.
With Lawrence Stroll providing immense financial backing to the team as well, Aston Martin’s rise to the top could begin this season.