With Aston Martin’s dismal beginning to the 2022 Formula One season at the Bahrain Grand Prix, ex-F1 racer Ralf Schumacher believes that both the AMR22 and the team’s operational strategy are inadequate.
Ralf Schumacher has spoken out about Aston Martin’s poor beginning to the new Formula One season, describing the AMR22 as a “wreck” and criticising the team’s “bulldozer strategy” to getting to the front.
Aston Martin’s disastrous opening to 2022 started in qualifying, where both cars were eliminated in Q1, with Nico Hulkenberg – who was filling in for Sebastian Vettel, who was suffering with Covid – and Lance Stroll posting the 17th and 19th fastest laps, respectively.
The team’s difficulties persisted throughout the race, with Stroll placing 12th and Hulkenberg 17th, with Schumacher claiming that neither the car nor the team’s management structure were up to par.
“The car is, so we hear, a disaster,” six-time Grand Prix winner Schumacher said on German show AvD Motor & Sport Magazin.
“And on top of that, apparently the team owner [Lawrence Stroll] is now also sitting in on the meetings and voicing how things should be done.
“If that’s the case, it gets really, really complicated.”
Aston Martin attempting to do “too much, too soon”
Despite significant funding from Lawrence Stroll, Lance’s father, Aston Martin has struggled, and the team hopes to be a championship team by 2025.
In previous months, many high-profile figures have been hired, including former McLaren Team Principal Martin Whitmarsh, former BMW Motorsport director Mike Krack, and former Red Bull aerodynamics chief Dan Fallows.
Aston Martin is developing a new plant and wind tunnel in addition to additional employees, and Schumacher made comparisons with his time in Formula One driving for Toyota, which struggled to win a Grand Prix in an eight-year period despite having the highest expenditure on the grid.
“The team have lost the thread,” said Schumacher.
“They wanted to achieve too much too quickly, and that simply doesn’t work in Formula 1.
“You can’t just take a lot of people and a lot of money, put them in a pot, stir it briefly and then something good comes out.
“The team wanted to take a bulldozer approach and that didn’t work at Toyota.”
What about Stroll vs stand-in Hulkenberg?
Lance Stroll’s approach over the season-opening weekend was also criticised by Schumacher.
Despite never having driven the AMR22 before and just discovering on Thursday that he would be competing in Vettel’s place, Stroll was out-qualified by Hulkenberg at the Bahrain International Circuit.
“Stroll should ask himself whether he should find a different hobby. It was really embarrassing. Nico did a good job,” said Schumacher.
Along with Williams, McLaren, and Red Bull, Aston Martin was among four teams to exit the opening race empty-handed.
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F1, F1 2022, Formula 1, Grand Prix, Mick Schumacher, Ralf Schumacher, Aston Martin, Lance Stroll, Sebastian Vettel