Aston Martin took to the track with its new AMR22 machine on Friday, just a day after the official launch.
Lance Stroll did a shakedown lap and system check on the Aston Martin team’s all-new AMR22 this morning at Silverstone.
The Canadian owned British outfit became the first F1 team to reveal a true 2022-spec vehicle on Thursday, and it has maintained its lead over its competitors by putting its new contender out on the track first.
Despite Haas and Red Bull launching their 2022 F1 car models recently, it came to light that the cars were only studio renders for Haas and an apparently repainted model car for Red Bull.
The team is currently undertaking a full shakedown of the AMR22, with race drivers Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll each driving for a maximum of 100 kilometers of track time. Every team is given two ‘filming days’ per year, with many teams using the first to shake out their cars ahead of the official pre-season tests.
As a result, Aston Martin have shared images from the shakedown with Stroll taking the AMR22 out on the track.
In light of the fact that Aston Martin’s 2022 car has taken to the track even before many teams have even offered a first glimpse at their 2022 contenders, the team’s Technical Director Andrew Green explains why they’ve gone so quickly with getting the car up and running.
According to Green, the purpose of the early shakedown was to give Aston Martin enough time to address any issues with the car before pre-season testing, following the introduction of new systems and designs.
“What we wanted to do was shakedown as early as possible to check the systems out on the car and give us some time between shakedown and [the] Barcelona test,” Green said in an interview.
“So that was the reason for shaking down [on Friday]. So we have time to react. Hopefully, we have a good shakedown, and there’s nothing to react to!”
“Because the car is absolutely brand new with no carryover at all. Pre-season testing is really short and the second test is so close to the first race, it is going to be almost impossible to react.”
