Alonso-Hamilton

Arnab Bose

Fernando Alonso’s Car Can Go Faster! Mercedes’ Diffuser Clearly Not Working For Aston Martin

Back in time, Mercedes dominated the F1 grid like a beast. But now it seems like the motorsport luck is favoring Aston Martin in terms of the development of their car. The German team has been having a challenging time since last year. They are not able to get their car right. Last season it faced some major issues with too much bouncing. And this year, the balance of the car and many more problems have popped up after the first two races.

The seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton is waiting for the team to provide him with a perfect car to win races. But the W14 car is not showing any hope for the team or the fans. Moreover, George Russell, the young Mercedes driver, recently mentioned that they might have to wait for the next year to have a car that can get them near the title contention. But amidst the Mercedes trouble, another driver who is facing the issue is none other than Fernando Alonso and his team Aston Martin.

   

Aston Martin Is Facing Trouble With Mercedes Parts

Fernando Alonso - Image Credit - xpbimages.com
(L to R): Eric Blandin (FRA) Aston Martin F1 Team Deputy Technical Director with Fernando Alonso (ESP) Aston Martin F1 Team. Formula One Testing, Day One, Thursday, 23rd February 2023. Sakhir, Bahrain. 23.02.2023. Formula 1 Testing, Sakhir, Bahrain, Day One © Copyright: Batchelor / XPB Images

The Mercedes’ customer, Aston Martin, has figured out a way to get into the title contention. It is true that Aston Martin has got a very experienced driver and a former world champion in their team in the form of Fernando Alonso. But the real trick is with the rear, the wind tunnels, and the engineering part of the car. Aston Martin is getting help from both Red Bull Racing and Mercedes. Reports from Formu1a.uno suggests that Aston Martin has borrowed the entire rear from Mercedes. But the design is an exact copy of the RB19. However, mixing both styles might not be working for Aston Martin.

The gearbox, as well as the rear suspension, is the same as the Mercedes W14 car. But the aerodynamic developments of Red Bull is not matching perfectly with the mechanical parts of the German team. The gearbox and rears of the Silver Arrows were developed exclusively for the W14 design. It won’t work with Red Bull’s aerodynamics. Apparently, the Mercedes design was largely based on the concept of zero-side pods.

Aston Martin Can Make Changes To The Car To Avoid Any Confusion

Lewis Hamilton Mercedes -Fernando Alonso Aston Martin -Max Verstappen Red Bull
Lewis Hamilton Mercedes -Fernando Alonso Aston Martin -Max Verstappen Red Bull

As per the reports, the Aston Martin car AMR23 is facing trouble with its diffuser. The Mercedes parts are so big and heavy that it is causing much less airflow at the diffuser. The former team can try to fix their diffuser problem if they put a lot of effort into the rear. However, it may backfire while the car tries to drag. Perhaps that is why the Aston Martin car is facing it hard to beat Red Bull on the straight with speed. Hence, Aston Martin will have to find a balance between the Mercedes parts and the Red Bull parts.

After the first two races, Red Bull has made it clear that they have the best car on the grid. Aston Martin is still ranked as the second-best. But Mercedes has fallen to the fourth-best car position. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff spoke about the car before, claiming that halfway to this season, things will look different. The W14 car will start looking much better than how it does now.