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Possibilities ‘wide open’ for F1 teams to make technical gains, says Aston deputy TD
The ability for teams to make big improvements with their 2023 cars is “wide open” across the grid, according to Aston Martin Racing’s deputy technical director Eric Blandin.
The Frenchman has worked for Red Bull, Ferrari and had a significant stint at Mercedes before joining Aston Martin late last year as part of the team’s recruitment drive to try and become future championship contenders. With Aston showing clear improvements after a tough start to last season, Blandin says its 2023 car will be almost completely new but believes all 10 teams have similar scope for gains early in a set of regulations.
“It's wide open,” Blandin said. “Every team has an opportunity to make significant progress with their new car. We want to make a big step forward with the AMR23. But it's all relative, how much of a step have the others made? We don't know yet, but I'm confident we have a good package.
“We took all our learnings from last year's car and applied them to this year's car. So much of the AMR23 is new -- it's completely different from the AMR22. We've changed more than 90 percent of the parts and more than 95 percent of the aerodynamic surfaces are different.”
Eric Blandin
Blandin is one of many high-profile hires made by Aston Martin, with the team also set to move into a new factory building this year as it builds a major campus at Silverstone. Given the resources available under Lawrence Stroll’s ownership, Blandin admits Aston can’t say it doesn’t have everything it needs to fight for titles in future.
“Both Red Bull and Mercedes have very talented people, but so do we. They've been so successful because the core group of people leading them has been very stable and consistent through the years. The stability enables experience, ways of working and trust to build between various members of the team -- throughout the entire organization -- and this is very powerful.
“It's coming together: the car, the people, the resources. You can feel the energy. Even if we don't get it right this year or next year, or don't make the step forward we're aiming for, we will eventually.
“There's a strong feeling, a belief, that we're on the right path. It's going to take a few years to become championship contenders, but soon we will have everything we need to be successful. There will be no excuses.”
Chris Medland
While studying Sports Journalism at the University of Central Lancashire, Chris managed to talk his way into working at the British Grand Prix in 2008 and was retained for three years before joining ESPN F1 as Assistant Editor. After three further years at ESPN, a spell as F1 Editor at Crash Media Group was followed by the major task of launching F1i.com’s English-language website and running it as Editor. Present at every race since the start of 2014, he has continued building his freelance portfolio, working with international titles. As well as writing for RACER, his broadcast work includes television appearances on F1 TV and as a presenter and reporter on North America's live radio coverage on SiriusXM.
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