How much pressure is on F1's most underperforming team?

The grandeur and expectation around Aston Martin’s big re-entry into Formula 1 has been replaced with revised targets and "pressure" amid its early underachievement.
In this video, we explore what that means for the team and why it will come down to how much patience team owner Lawrence Stroll has, along with the argument for its 2021 slump being a special case.
We also assess the role a breakthrough result for the team and Sebastian Vettel can play in Aston Martin's fortunes, after the four-time world champion and star signing emerged as a silver lining amid the difficult start
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[@AUBravo15]

Not gonna lie, I honestly thought that halfway through we were gonna get Lance Stroll’d

[@WeAreTheRace]

The editor did think about it.

[@zaynsadiq5536]

@@WeAreTheRace give him a raise

[@kirbymorales4988]

Rick-Strolled

[@adrianharcourt-cooke7204]

Would have been hilarious

[@darkox4172]

@@kirbymorales4988 THAT SHOULD BE THE NEW MEME NAME

[@andyvettel4375]

This was a stop gap season anyway , I would rather like that they focus all resources on 2022 , this year clearly doesn't matter much

[@CatchMeNever]

Yeah Haas has clearly taken that approach

[@Leonardo-vj3hm]

@@CatchMeNever watch haas win the championship since they were the first to focus on 2022

[@mithrandhananjayan5709]

@@Leonardo-vj3hm Hehe, Yeah like Merc 2014

[@edwatts3289]

I’ve never understood why people think that a certain year doesn’t matter. Every year has the same amount of weight, with the same money, same points and same goal for teams and drivers for the championship.

[@arry5432]

@@edwatts3289 yeah but this year's effort is going to the bin anyways and the new regulation is long term, nailing that would help the team in the long term.

[@argh6666]

MEGA race from Seb in Monaco. Let's hope this form continues.

[@TheRealBeatMaster]

Plus their race strategy finally worked out well with that beautiful overcut, whole team put in a great performance in all aspects

[@kky13]

@@TheRealBeatMaster Yeah a good weekend for the whole team, strategy was great and the drivers put in consistent lap times

[@BuuGz86]

what is so mega? Leclerc and Botas DNF/DNS, Mercedes on a horrible strategy that even Lewis got behind Gasly, and oh lets not forget because of Gasly holding Lewis back has Vetel even able to make up places. So Seb getting P5 is lucky to say the least... If anyone had a MEGA race it was Sergio he actually was way faster than those guys and managed to jump a couple of places.

[@AdityaSingh-qj4hd]

Will be really difficult to get performances like that because of the cars limitations. The top 8 is basically fixed this year as McLaren and Ferrari are in a league of their own. That leaves only P9 and P10 for which it's a fight between Alpha Tauri, Aston, Alfa Sauber and Alpine.

[@spirrr]

@@BuuGz86 Perez was in the same car that won the race by 8 seconds lmao he should not be proud of being faster than cars that are slower than his. He should've been on the podium at the least with that car

[@nishitpatira1740]

It's incredibly tight in the midfield 5th. - Aston Martin. : 19 Points 6th - Alpha Tauri - 18 Points 7th - Alpine - 17 Points

[@averagesundaydriver8122]

Yeah, it’s kind of like Midfield A (McLaren, Ferrari, Perez until his qualys get better) Midfield B (Aston, AT, and Alpine) La La Land (Alfa, Russell) and Formula 1.5 (Latifi 90% of the time, Haas)

[@3XICS]

Thing is AT would be much better if Tsunoda didn't underperform.

[@treystroeder588]

I loved how the community - myself included - hyped Tsunoda after Bahrain... and now its all kind of died off.

[@averagesundaydriver8122]

@@rafihfn The group I put of Russell and the Alfas really isn’t as much a group in my mind either as much as it is a collection of cars that may not be close together, but they’re not really in a group. They’re slower than the Midfield B cars on most tracks, but too fast for the F1.5.

[@nishitpatira1740]

@@3XICS it's true of almost all point scoring teams. Alonso is taking time to start scoring consistently. Perez hasn't been where a Redbull should have been. Vettel hadn't scored a single point till Monaco. Tsunoda as you said. Daniel is under tremendous pressure to start matching Lando. It's just Ferrari and Mercedes (when Bottas is not unlucky) who have both drivers performing consistently.

[@andre_flabie]

Monaco is a confident circuit, dificult for overtake, which is suitable for Seb. I could see that Seb is a consistent driver. The car is not fast, slower than Alpha Tauri's and Alpine in my opinion. Not sure the rest of the race has similar characteristic as Monaco.

[@mancunianswagger3668]

Nah tbh all the races with street circuits will defo help them in which it includes the one we"re racing next. Held your hopes high is all what i say for the nxt one Astons might be able to pull up a shock yet again.

[@SaiHemanthKumar]

@@mancunianswagger3668 Baku has long straights. A faster car is surely the key.

[@mancunianswagger3668]

@@SaiHemanthKumar no listen it has a very long fast backstraight but astons do have the fastest engine behind their back + the track's more about low Speed corners then the long backstraight.

[@rockzs74r]

@MrLocomaximo the overcut and undercut also could be strong in Baku and Vettel could use his crazy inlap and outlap speed to take advantage again.

[@Leonardo-vj3hm]

@@rockzs74r I’m praying

[@cameronjohnston7389]

People act like it's the driver's fault. The car is the 7th fastest car, behind McLaren, Ferrari, Alpine, and AT. The drivers should finish around 13-14th. Seb is consistently on pace if not faster than Stroll - last three weekends to be precise, whereas Nando is five tenths off of Ocon, Daniel got lapped by Lando, and Perez is four tenths off of Max (I'll give him 2 tenths because of RB's design philosophy). You have to remember that the pink merc was simply a one year project so they could focus completely on 2021 - which because of covid became '22. They are where they should have ended up. 2022 will be the true teller as to what they're capable of.

[@Endless-River]

Very realistic outlook! I am new to watching F1 as each race passes by and I have a general understanding of where the teams should be but I see that people in the comments forget about what this year was supposed to be. I am sad that I haven't paid attention to F1 as much in the past (apart from the general stuff on Reddit) but I look forward to the rest of this season and what next year will bring. I am a fan of McLaren, because I'm an anglophile as I grew up with a lot of British culture despite being American, so it was a natural choice and I love their race pedigree. I think they are a team that is passionate but also have fun, and that's a big thing for me. I think there will be a fairly sizable shake-up in things next year but it will take a couple years for teams to get their new places as they refine things. I appreciate the realistic outlook and as a newer fan I love when I see comments taking all things into account instead of just lap times and people being upset that legendary (and future legends) drivers now suck because they didn't win their first race in a new car with a new team. Cheers

[@areebsiddiqui758]

True, Vettel is already stacking up well against his teammate, better than all the drivers that switched teams other than Sainz. Its the 7th fastest car so not much should be expected of them this year. 2022 will be a real reflection of the team's capability.

[@darkox4172]

@@Endless-River 2022 is anyone's game, im not a merchant when it comes to technical stuff but I know for sure that at the very least Haas and Aston Martin will improve. Who knows? This seems idiotic to say but we could see mclaren as a front runner again, or maybe even Aston Martin

[@MisoElEven]

@@darkox4172 Looks like every single team is going to improve..but the question is which will improve the most. Williams, Mclaren, Ferrari seem to be on an upward trend. Haas has thrown out this season to focus on 2022 so they will probably come back strong. RedBull and Mercedes are pretty much guaranteed to be on top with the resources they have available (even with the cost cap, the infrastructure is already built). Alpine is finally going to have a new chassis after 2 years of being stuck with this one. Aston has bought the 2020 Mercedes to focus on the reg changes while theyre also building and upgrading the factory. Hell it looks like 5 teams (with a stroke of luck and engineering genius) could be fighting for the championship or at least podiums/odd wins and the rest look like theyre going to be strong midfield teams.

[@darkox4172]

@@MisoElEven We might have a repeat of the 2012 year (or Vettel domination era except maybe 2013) where pretty much even the slower cars have chances to get an odd podium or a spectacular win if thats true

[@twofiftysix97]

Well... post Baku gang rolling in!

[@massluca0078]

I hate when people say Vettel had a bad start to the season, he changed teams AFTER a bad season. he has the worst car out of the drivers that changed teams, and with the midfield being so tight, of course he wasn't going to score any points. like Danny Ric and Perez are having a bad start to their seasons, just because they are getting points in a better car doesn't mean its going well. the Red Bull is a title contender and is finishing in 10th-4th, and the Mclaren is roughly third fastest while danny ric is being LAPPED. Vettel has beat his teammate in the race 2 out of 5 times, and was only off the pace of Stroll in the opening 2 races. RIC and PER are STILL off the pace 5 races in

[@lukewood2662]

Tbh it's kinda difficult to be in Verstappen's pace. Isn't that car nervous?

[@dasmoools606]

@@lukewood2662 Pretty much, its a car designed around Verstappen's driving style, that much is clear. It's a very knife edge car. Slow when its not pushed to the edge of its limits. Though, Perez is doing FAR better than any previous Number 2, he's progressing race to race and slowly but surely getting a feel for the car. Heck, he's even using the same settings as Verstappen now and that seems to be helping him out, he's realized that its a car that needs to be driven on the edge, or it doesn't seem to perform. As for Vettel, like him abit better now, he gave Carlos a nice chance at Ferrari and our boy Carlos is a healthy dose of a 'Good work environment' for Ferrari, they seem to be acting more like a team as of late, supporting BOTH drivers and not treating them as just tools. Finally, Riccardo, I feel for. He's struggling a lot, he doesn't seem to be clicking with the car whatsoever.

[@massluca0078]

@@lukewood2662 that's not what I'm talking about though, I'm saying people have sympathy for RIC and PER but not Vettel, even though he is closer to his teammate than both of those drivers. the media likes to rag on him for no reason just because he had one "clumsy" season

[@davidorama6690]

Seb is showing patience and progress, quite unlike the last few years at Ferrari. I think attention will turn to Alonso and Ricciardo if they don’t start improving... Ricciardo in particular is starting to look puzzling... the old ‘“he might need a new chassis” so early in the season is a very worrying sign.

[@paulvannoordwyk8968]

Very true

[@MrSstiel]

Matt Beer on The Race wrote there was an uncomfortable similiarity here. Stewart GP became Jaguar in 2000, a race-winning team turned into one struggling to score points. Hope Aston Martin can avoid that.

[@greatrespect1549]

But this is just rebranding and not change of ownership. So this is same racing point as 2020.

[@mrjdmtunerboy.1463]

@@greatrespect1549 is that wut he try hope not happened Jaguars was actual rebranding f1 team user ford engine because ford owner Jaguars before 2007-2008 ford sell Jaguars Range Rover too tata is not about ownership is about future team and is kan be fall

[@shank4578]

@@mrjdmtunerboy.1463 bruh wt r u even saying

[@generalmcarthur8401]

@@mrjdmtunerboy.1463 Bro u trippin.

[@F1ll1nTh3Blanks]

@@greatrespect1549 It's of little risk to Stroll because he can use Aston Martin as a stepping stone to boost the fit and if the team fail to perform, he'll sell it off and crack on to the next thing.

[@cornevangulik6166]

I just really hope they will be competitive in 2022. 2021, won’t be a high point one way or another.

[@albertusaswin2012]

If the green cars can perform as beautiful as a DB-series car shape, they would do well. They could even beat Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari.

[@BuuGz86]

They are going to fight for points, nothing more. There needs to be a fundamental change in the team if they want to even fight for podiums... 2022 Top 4 teams will again be Merc+RBR+Ferrari+McLaren.... this team has always been a midfield team nothing is going to change anytime soon, last year was a fluke because they copied a winning car and helped by the fact that there is a development freeze.

[@Ion-FCB15]

@@BuuGz86 look Aston can easily become like Brown GP a meh year until the regulation with 2 very good drivers and saving resources for the regulation change . If Merc and RB keep fighting a lot they could easily become like Ferrari and McLaren in 2009 ( bad cars and not prepared ) . Conclusion is that never subestimate the Silverstone team that will have soon a new factory and a bigger budget

[@averagesundaydriver8122]

@@BuuGz86 Under it’s first name Jordan they had a shot at the title in 1998 with Damon Hill.

[@The_Curious_Cat]

​@@BuuGz86 Mercedes was also a midfield team once. Just because Aston Martin was built on a midfield team, doesn't mean they will stay there. Just like because you have the big bucks, doesn't mean you will be competitive (Ferrari is a good example of that).

[@user-zz6iv2ou6f]

RP20 was never meant to be a two season project, just a strong hold over to allow for minimal development while focusing on the new regs. Clever planning that still paid dividends, and a club with resource for the long term.

[@mohamedkhaled7922]

Let's hope for vettel to have a better 2022

[@darkox4172]

That will definitely happen, the car will probably be more competitive that year

[@sensei1ish]

If he stays in F1 for 2022, its hard to imagine. But I don't know why, I see him retiring at the end of this season.

[@radical_democracy]

@@sensei1ish doesn't he has a 3 years contract with Aston?

[@alexanderpower2195]

@@sensei1ish I hope he at least does one season on the new regs. What if it works wonders and AMR builds a wonderful car? who knows. thats why we want him to stay

[@HeavyMetalGamingHD]

The realistic target now for aston has to be to finish p5 in the constructors. beating alphatauri and alpine won't be easy. If they manage to do that, they can still call this season a success.

[@richardpatton2502]

We’re all rooting for you Seb...good luck

[@SShadyJess]

Stroll isn't gonna pull the plug, especially not with his son in the seat

[@Nick-qx1vf]

True. As soon as big Stroll is gone little Stroll gets the hook

[@XandersJamesWayne]

Make no mistake 'bout that.👌🏼👌🏼

[@Cafferssss]

He won't pull the plug on owning an F1 team by I guarentee he will pull the plug on individual careers if they don't start getting results 👀

[@Rahul-kz5fi]

Look, even if they finish 10th, I'll be a true fan and support them anyway

[@ijustfelldown]

You don't have to worry. Haas and Williams won't be able to gain as many points in rest of the season as Aston has so far in the season. Unless of course there are crazy accidents and dnfs for everyone else.

[@christokapp597]

It was the same for me with Jordan, I just loved those yellow hornets and they were fairly decent for a season or two.

[@jesuschrist4185]

Stfu?

[@XandersJamesWayne]

@@ijustfelldown must look out for Mazepin!!!😬😬😬😬

[@Cookivirus]

They'll be back in 2022 most likely They have the money, workers and drivers behind them to move them forward It is just a shame with those regulations and all

[@Root3264]

*video sponsored by "Vettel is actually really a nice guy foundation"*

[@booptidyscoop7790]

With underperforming Daniel , upgrades making it a little better than Alpine , Vettel has a chance.

[@animalcol1]

I don't think that'll continue much longer. Once he clicks then watch out

[@swapnilmajumdar3437]

@@animalcol1 if Aston give him a good car with decent strategy.. Vettel will be back.

[@arry5432]

@@swapnilmajumdar3437 tbh McLaren is faster. Let's say both are comfortable with their cars and can push, I believe Danny would have the upper hand car and driving wise. As much as I love Seb, his last year was pretty poor. But again, Seb can pull some magic if the luck and chance arrive like you said.

[@swapnilmajumdar3437]

@@arry5432 yeah exactly .. but that's the thing last year I feel was an exception we can genuinely understand. The team constantly failed him... But as you said, all we gotta do is wait. (And yeah absolutely McLaren is the better car this year) . It's clear AMR is focusing on 2022 at the moment... And I think that's the right way to go too

[@darkox4172]

@@arry5432 Ricciardo wont be making up much right now, but watch later into the season. Ricciardo is one of these types of driver's that take a while to adapt, Later on though he will be on it and riding that mclaren

[@SIXITHS]

Imagine my surprise seeing a video about the most underperforming F1 team, only to find that it isn't about Renault / Alpine...

[@camyx_]

To everyone who's saying they're not underperforming, they had the 3rd fastest car last year. And now they're lucky to get a double points finish. That's a fall and thus underperformance

[@244hotlaps]

low rake tax

[@vedantmishra5773]

@@callumclarke-elder6357 doesn't matter much they got more test time than McLaren but what happened ?

[@vex2287]

Ok so what? Mercedes was super dominant last year now look at them, they are fighting for a championship against red bull. Both teams took a huge hit because of regulations

[@Quivex1]

They are, but I think people are missing important context as to *why*. The underperformance this year in many ways, should have been expected. The original plan was for the 2020 "pink mercedes" to only exist for one year, without upgrades, so that they could focus on 2021(which then became 2022). Once the regs were delayed, they'd be running the car for two years which wasn't what they expected, creating a situation they weren't fully ready for. They brought upgrades last year that worked, but running this years car was never even actually in the original plan. They obviously had to scramble to improve on a car they didn't plan on having to improve on at all, while making sure they were inline with the regulations at the same time. I think all of this will make them a strong wild card contender for 2022 though, as the whole point of this from the beginning was to poor resources into the new regs. If anything, they OVER performed last year, and this year is more indicative of where they would normally be in this era of aero regs.

[@F1ll1nTh3Blanks]

@@Quivex1 But their 2021 car is the most different on the grid, even more so than the McLaren. They changed the side impact monocoque and the rest of the car is pretty much all Mercedes. So either their chassis or aero is lacking, (or gearbox casing, but perhaps that's an outlier). Perhaps you're right that they didn't do much work on it but they were designing aero packages on the 2020 car, they seemed to work most of the time but perhaps it's not integrating with the 2021 car well. I mean Mercedes also took a hefty nerf that was disguised by their monumental pace advantage from last year. But, Aston was gifted the opportunity to change more things than Mercedes as Aston was allowed to change it's chassis, due to its huge Mercedes supply of listed parts. It's not easy to tell where it got wrong in that light, perhaps they just got caught slipping with the new rear downforce cuts as a low rake car, but they likely also didn't do the best job making back their deficit, at least compared to Ferrari and McLaren and even Mercedes (who lost the most time after Aston over last year, 1s to Astons 2.)

[@luccass6793]

Facing new regulations while using someone else's project will always be hard. There wasn't much they could do to have proper development and stay in the best of the rest fight in these conditions.

[@movitz6391]

I almost believe that the rule changes were more against aston martin then mercedes to show other teams what happens if you copy cars that dominate. Which gave the added affect of giving people a more intresting wdc/wcc.

[@edoardoguglielmi2523]

@@movitz6391 merc is the best car -> AMR copies merc -> FIA makes regulations to level the field damaging merc -> merc fixes their car becaus they lead development -> Aston takes a bigger hit and doesn’t have resources to develop ope like others

[@T0NYMANUEL]

@@movitz6391 yeah....these rule changes won't affect the leading teams much but the dependant teams and teams that doesn't have much financial capabilities

[@ttvbtwttvbtw5627]

all i want is seb in a good car...

[@jameslister3334]

Aged like fine milk.

[@fouadsaade7134]

The race in monaco proved to everyone that this AM is strong in races like baku, hungary, Singapore, Jeddah and australia when we can see a double points finish

[@Iamninjathing]

I still think they will recover by mid season this is the same team that was 4th in championship in 2016 when at the start of season the car was shit

[@darkox4172]

C A T

[@HelloHello-yp1tb]

But there is no way they can catch Ferrari or Mclaren by now. Their cars are incredibly close to Red Bull and Mercedes, their drivers are on the limit and even if AM manage to get on their level, the points gap is already quite large.

[@Iamninjathing]

@@HelloHello-yp1tb Yeah it's gonna be difficult as hell I think they will be fifth that's a good expectation

[@sandalphoncpu]

When you realized Seb got more points than Lance in just one race

[@thorler3233]

when you realise it took seb 5 races to score points whilst lance was consistently finishing in the points..

[@cesardepena7498]

@@thorler3233 when you realised that that doesn't matter as long as he brings more points than stroll plus stroll was more used to the car got alot more practice with it as well as the aero package

[@thorler3233]

@@cesardepena7498 stroll will finish above Vettel 👍

[@mkronos02]

@@varungandhi8176 Not good

[@thorler3233]

@Liam 2069 lance was unlucky, come back at the end of the year

[@hamzterix]

Great video. I like your analysis. I am tired of reporters/KZbinrs negativities and repeating each other. This was fresh. Thank you.

[@christopherm487]

They could be dead last and I would still love them for that beautiful green livery. Best looking car on the grid by a significant margin.

[@Italia216]

always great insight guys👍. Nice work

[@trappenweisseguy27]

It would be interesting to know how much, if anything, that AM actually have to do with the car. Certainly not the engine, which kind of devalues the whole branding thing imo.

[@tomdehua]

It's a franchise team, AM has nothing to do with the car devolopment

[@dln.sweeney]

They're a sponsor. The team is composed of essentially the same personele as when they were called Racing Point. Not much different from when Red Bull was heavily associated and branded as an Aston team but had a Honda or Renault engine, or Alfa Romeo really being a Sauber with a Ferrari power unit and some cloverleaf stickers.

[@registrado54]

Actually, if there is a similarity between the F1 car and aston martin is that both use the same engine brand, other than that its just sponsorship

[@tiagogreeve685]

@@registrado54 This sounds like a burn😂

[@djdelarosa25]

AM as a car company don't even make their own engines for their cars.

[@Sourav-shortss]

That green car just looks so good... 'just'

[@GordonGreenCincinnati]

SEB 5th STROLL is literally rickrolling the entire internet at the moment. How exactly are these guys underperforming?

[@thesleppymexican]

I mean last year they were getting podiums and won a race. While this year isn’t it the first time both cars were in the points.

[@DonutHolestien]

My guy you are watching the video that explains all that. What's the point of this comment?

[@sghitza1]

@@thesleppymexican well this year they had to come up with their own car. They couldn't copy the merc anymore. It just shows that everyone was right last year to call them cheaters.

[@thesleppymexican]

@@sghitza1 Yeah like someone said Merc was the target in the new regulations but Aston was caught in the crossfire. Since Aston isn't at the same level as Merc they haven't been able to adapt as well to the new regulations.

[@treystroeder588]

@@thesleppymexican Don't forget that, even with Aston as name brand, there's this entire rule shakeup coming for 2022, so practically nothing of the current cars can be carried over.

[@thelionking3321]

Can’t lie...irrespective of the content in the video, the video’s thumbnail pic of Seb’s Honey badger at Monaco is absolutely epic❤️❤️❤️🔥🔥🔥

[@grayaj23]

I think that your analysis is pretty accurate, particularly about the dispute being a show to placate an angry owner. I think a lot of people can relate "OK, boss. You've heard why I think this isn't going to work, but we'll do it your way..." all the while making plans to do scuttle the boss' plan as soon as he's distracted or complaining about something else. If you've ever had to intentionally put typos in a memo, write-up or proposal so that your boss could spot them and chew you out for it so he could feel like he's still running the show, you'll know what I mean.

[@Drrolfski]

This season probably won't be all that competitive for them. A few upgrades down the line won't change much of that as the competition isn't sitting idle. They're probably better off switching their focus to 2022 soon.

[@OsellaSquadraCorse]

Why? Mercedes already have...so why bother. Just buy it.

[@everythingtechpro007]

Vettal did fast two laps before pitting that matched MAX and Saiz lap times. That was crucial in getting P5. This shows in a track like monaco where cars are closer he can deliver. But we need to see for high speed racing track.

[@sv52308]

A strait line is this cars weekness

[@proxactual]

5:07 missed a "greener pastures" opportunity

[@richardpatton2502]

Sir Lancelot started cutting his own hair...

[@Luca-gu7qu]

The flexi wing clarification is going to pull a few teams back towards them also as Aston dont currently use a flexi rear wing, albeit only really at high top speed circuits.

[@aizuddinfahmi9255]

I think this video should have been focused on Alpine. But then again, we can't give them too much credit since one of their drivers is a junior rookie in the sport.

[@screwyouguysimgoinghome9835]

I just want Vettel to win atleast a grand Prix , so I can finally rest in peace.

[@p0werfu11]

Agree, but still, he won too much in Red Bull already.

[@Loki-sk7bi]

You’re not alone !

[@tommy_thomasf1380]

After looking at the standings I think there are 4 classes in f1 Red Bull And Mercedes in Class A Ferrari And Mclaren in Class B Aston, Alphatauri and Alpine in Class C and Alfa, Williams and Haas in Class D what do you think??

[@anustart-loveeachother7680]

Alfa is a bit of an inbetweener tho, they scored already and at some circuits fought with Aston and Alpine, but they are clearly not in the same league, but they are definitely better than the other two teams, but yeah, generally I’d agree

[@HeavyMetalGamingHD]

I would say 5. Haas are in class E. they are much slower than williams and alfa.

[@Ruftinator]

I feel like Monaco really was special for most teams on the F1 grid. All drivers that switched team seemed to have set a huge step forwards and really got at home at their new team.

[@niweshlekhak9646]

Alonso and Ricardo were still off their team mates, only Vettel and Perez improved.

[@Ruftinator]

@@niweshlekhak9646 even those are learning moments though. Alonso left for 2 years and that always makes it hard to return but he’ll probably get on the pace throughout the year. Ricciardo doesn’t have that benefit but I heard somewhere that the MCL35M drives differently from what he’s used to which means he has to completely re-learn how to drive quickly with that car. I feel like part of that is likely due to the Mercedes power unit as Ricciardo has never driven a car that didn’t have a Renault power unit until now.

[@jonathanrath2627]

Truly rooting for this entire team! 🤘😎

[@abhisheksunil7037]

I think Silverstone will be the turning point. It's just my gut feeling, so it can be earlier or later than that. But once they have a breakthrough with the car, they'll be able to get a decent amount of results, and hopefully, end the year in P5.

[@yourheartisamusclethesizeo2003]

After Baku: you won’t believe what just happened guys

[@FXXBADBOY]

once again scott is the expert, you have to give scott credit for being a "journo" in the press conference, he is probably the greatest thing since sliced bread.

[@jwj8201]

When you copy Mercedes aero, you may have Mercedes aero, but you also get the entire FIA out to get you, and don't have Mercedes infrastructure and budget to offset their attempts to nerf the people who actually engineered your aero.

[@fix0the0spade]

2 weeks later that pressure is greatly reduced, first a good showing at Monaco and then that podium, not so hot for Lance though.

[@mracer8]

One off for the car, not the driver. This track is the most demanding on driver. Need precision. No mistake and commitment with the car.

[@BonesyHusky]

Vettel on podium in Baku. Heard it hear first

[@bigarmydave]

The car needs serious upgrades.

[@siddharthtotla8277]

They are very good at strategy just look at Germany 2019, monza 2020. If their 2022 car works out well I think they are very hot contenders. Also Lance stroll has been improving.

[@nicolasmangano358]

Gg for Seb at Baku

[@dougr550]

Moto GP articles but no video! Would love to see a video about the same content that was written about today!

[@T0NYMANUEL]

Seb just have to do overall improvements and keep up the pace

[@tingala_0129]

Underperforming you say? Sebastian Vettel would beg to differ after Baku.

[@berlinflight_tv]

I disagree with the intro framing this season as “Aston Martin’s grand re-entry into F1”. From my understanding, Stroll basically bought the Aston Martin company and put its name onto last year’s Racing Point team and car. So, this was not a re-entry as much as a re-branding. Whatever expertise Aston Martin as a company may bring to the table probably won’t make much of a difference until 2022.

[@johnvaleanbaily246]

Aston Martin struggles this year... why does everyone keep saying this. The trouble was too much hype... should have kept it low key... especially with Stroll driving. I wish Vettel luck.

[@generaldreagonlps6889]

They finished 4th (3rd if you count the points they lost as punishment) and the cars are mostly the same. It was reasonable to expect them to fight McLaren and Ferrari this year for third place. But now they are fighting at the back of the midfield with only a clear gap to Williams and Haas. So yes, they are underperforming.

[@sathvickhk6687]

And then a podium in Baku!

[@nickmag6142]

I think a new color can effect a team more than you think tbh, it’s a bigger brand and name they basically reinvented the team whole new ball game the pressure probably getting to the

[@SilverScarletSpider]

Kinda disappointing that Aston Martin is not as fast as Ferarri and McLaren tbh. Wish we had a 5 way race for 3rd from AlphaTauri, McLaren, Ferarri, Aston Martin, and Alpine.

[@aarnavarora9098]

laughs in baku

[@nipunkothare]

Haas: Phew! From the title I thought this was about me

[@ThePlaiibox]

Would love to see seb get his mojo back long-term. Good result in Monaco, Baku is quite similar so hope he does well

[@Ginbaubabe]

Lawrence Stroll was expecting to stroll into the piranha club like a veteran but instead he was dunked into the tank full of toothy meat-eating fish🤣

[@adimeister9878]

Think Aston could be a dark horse for next season, they had consistently strong seasons on a limited budget as Force India/RP and the budget cap could definitely therefore work in their favor compared to e.g. Ferrari + their driver pairing is really underrated with Seb being experienced and a top 2/3 driver of his era and Lance still being really young and improving every season since he joined F1. Would put their lineup top 6 with top 3 potential

[@austinkassman]

Regulations are changing and there is a massive pool of money behind AM. Maybe they, or alpine, displace one of the big three.

[@saisrimohnitakula3522]

This video aged well

[@phrtao]

Vettel is a really nice guy and it would be great to see him continue to perform as he did in Monaco. The next race is Baku which is a favourite for teammate Lance Stroll so maybe this is a real turn around.

[@Uno.Numero]

It was refreshing to see Seb back in form (even if it means it was for a race) what is important (as mentioned) in over two years he now has confidence in his car, so we can be assured that the Aston will be driven by him at it's optimum.... the reality however, is that Aston is still slower than Alpha Tauri and if the flexi wings are contained then Aston will be there and thereabouts with Mclaren (but not as quick). So, it's an interesting time ahead for Aston, but it's good to be back for Seb and for F1 in whole.

[@rafifdzaky]

their plan was actually very smart. taking inspiration from the winning car with low budget in the supposed-to-be last year before the regulation change. it's just covid ruined their short term plan and that's why they are 'under performing' now.

[@aadityashirke1236]

True, I feel like they have gone back to their form in 2018/19, only in 2020 they were able to exploit a loophole which allowed them to fight for the 3rd place.

[@knownasfade5538]

When the cars rear is stable and aggressive when is needed vettel could make some astonishing and consistent speed on the track in my oppinion

[@ADISHF1]

8:18 That was team's top bosses party with a kid

[@danielsgrunge]

This changed!

[@ramonamohammed6626]

TOTO needs to send Laurence shock rebound and springrate values and badgeboard aero specs to give him a lift up in the championship standings.

[@ModernDIYCraftsman]

We may soon see Seb Vettel in podium

[@RayB1656]

we will find out very soon, in the next few weeks ... Monaco is different, difficult to judge !

[@miendust9659]

Guys he's back

[@XandersJamesWayne]

I like that AMR color scheme!!!💥💥💥💥👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼💯

[@animalcol1]

Delighted for Seb. Laurence needs to reign in his expectations. F1 is not about clothing. It took red bull years to get from Jag to a consistent winning team. And they had newey, a massive budget, minimal testing restrictions and a second team. He won't stay the course anyway. He just doesn't want his exit strategy compromised

[@OsellaSquadraCorse]

True, but it didn't take Briatore long to get Benetton from a strong midfield team capable of podiums into a regular race winner on merit and championship contender. Sometimes the clothing guys do OK. Sometimes.

[@HeavyMetalGamingHD]

It actually took red bull only one year. they stayed a midfield team for quite a while and then used the aero changes to jump to the top in 2009. We are inb4 the biggest rule change in f1 history.

[@animalcol1]

@@OsellaSquadraCorse it's a different time now buddy. What was possible 20 odd years ago is not possible now. Money, technology, team sizes...everything is much higher than then.

[@davidwilliams5497]

With how well Mercedes has been able to recover from the new regs this year, I’m suspicious of Aston’s “difficulties”. Sounds like a bit of throwing to get a better setup for next year, with more testing time. The money difference between 3rd and 5th in the Constructors’ is significant, but not as much to the billionaire bankroll AM has. Why not spend this year’s budget on the new, longer-term car design, and also fail just enough this year to get a ton more testing time than the McLaren or Ferrari teams next year? I’m not usually a conspiratorial type, but this car is still mostly the pink Mercedes. It shouldn’t be this bad. Edit: I’m not saying that they could win 3rd (McLaren look mega this year), but that they’re maybe not trying as hard as they could do.

[@sebastianwinge]

Look at how tight the midfield is and how much Mercedes has dropped back. Mercedes may have recovered well but fact is they are only just beating Red Bull at the moment who were nowhere near them last year.

[@Orion-ns8hj]

It's no longer that pink Mercedes infact it's the only new car on the grid

[@davidwilliams5497]

@@Orion-ns8hj I don’t know where you got that information, but all of the cars are largely unchanged since last year due to cost cutting and the pandemic. The FIA allowed two “development tokens” for each team to change certain things on their cars, of which Aston used both. From my understanding (and confirmed with a quick Google search about what they’d changed), it seems that all they did was update the chassis (survival cell), gearbox, and rear suspension. (The rear suspension upgrade, which matches the Mercedes 2020 spec, didn’t cost a development token, apparently.) The rest of the car, including some of the rear shaping around the “new” suspension, is still the same as last year’s car.

[@MetalMilitia072583]

Daddy Stroll lookin like a Bond villain with dat beard

[@LeesTexan]

Lawrence Stroll looks like the James Bond movie villain in Thunderball :) Just needs the eye patch :)

[@zeniscunt1023]

I do idealy hope the 2021 car is more competitive

[@thebarcaboardroom406]

I think they were just overhyped not that they are underperfoming

[@majgots7]

They were clearly the third fastest car last year. Now they're underperforming

[@yoyo-tx6zg]

They went from 3rd to 6th/7th quickest car lol. They are clearly underperforming

[@jrrosberg9324]

Monaco was a flash and every team going back in order except for alpine who is still a question mark

[@Quivex1]

At least you can see a slow pattern of improvement to AM, with Vettel's comfort level in the car getting better, and a degree of performance consistency. Alpine can literally look GREAT one race, and then actual trash the next. They are easily the biggest question mark before every single race weekend at this point. Friday practice is when Alpine and all of us together get to find out if they'll be mildly competitive at a certain track or not lol.

[@bharadwajr3430]

Ig alpine cars shine when it is a fast circuit.

[@oeszedtm]

Aston might even not want to better their position if they can handle not being fifth. As money isn't a problem for them, they don't rely on finishing as high up as possible for funding which is why they can definetly go with finishing lower this season to concentrate on '22 and also gain more windtunnel time for next year.

[@cameronjohnston7389]

I think people are jumping off the Seb train a little early, he was off Lance's pace the first 2 weekends but has been equal (+/- 0.100/sec.) or ahead ever since.

[@pancytryna9378]

I just hope in 2022 there wont be any pink on the livery

[@da5385]

People think its drivers fault when the car doesnt have the race pace and have the pace only for 1 lap but dont forget that Vettel is in new car, chassis, engine and etc. There was video about the AMR21 in the official F1 channel that the AMR21 is brand new car and etc. In Monaco he was in pace with Max and hold Perez for many laps and also pulled gap to Gasly and Gasly wasnt able to catch him and also AM is struggling with the low rake just like Mercedes because MB didnt had the pace in Monaco. For me when AM stop struggling a lot they mind have chance in P4 P5 or even P3 in constructors but thats the main problem they dont know how to fix it or trying to fix it. 2022 will be better for them and for many other low teams.

[@michaelwilkie35]

If Covid wasn’t a thing, they actually had a brilliant idea, (copying a dominant car the year before regulation changes would have everyone on a level playing field). It doesn’t look great having to develop a car they didn’t fully build themselves, but they’re in good shape to win the battle with AT & Alpine.

[@Danyymao]

This aged well.

[@sturat18]

Can a team like this ever really be a true contender? Even with the cost cap and new facilities, it seems as though fighting Red Bull/Merc and a fully-capable Ferrari would be difficult.

[@wormman1772]

give it a few years

[@whassupg89]

I still think they are overplaying the rake thing. Interesting to see how they do with a clean sheet of paper for the new rules

[@phantomgaming9771]

Aston Martin before Monaco: These rule changes are unfair for us change them again pweez pweety pweez with I'm going to sue you on top! Aston Martin after Monaco: NEVER MIND! :) This comment is brought to you by Lance Stroll'd, when you need Strollin' blame Lance.

[@hiddeemmen]

It's really difficult to be Aston Martin, when you can't just copy the best car from last year anymore

[@244hotlaps]

unfunny

[@hiddeemmen]

@@244hotlaps not even a joke

[@jimtim9397]

They copy or illegally buy prats from Mercedes and then complain they are slow. There is no team spirit in Aston Martin anymore, just money and big ego.

[@Orion-ns8hj]

@@jimtim9397 Aston is the ony new car on the grid

[@2blkSSs]

I don’t disagree that the aero changes were specifically designed to slow Mercedes down and less about safety.

[@joshedwards3032]

It’s a bold strategy let’s see how it pays off for them

[@davidreichert9392]

I want to see Aston Martin do well, but I wouldn't read too much into the results from Monaco. It's an odd track and this year even more odd than usual.

[@mariogonzalez3809]

They should have never abandoned the pink merc. Just evolve it, no need to replace it.