“We conducted a useful testing programme” – Aston Martin’s Tom McCullough

Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team’s testing programme at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya came to a disappointing end, after a fairly positive first two days for the team in Spain.

The British team saw their final day go up in smoke, a small oil leak during Sebastian Vettel’s running on the final day resulted in a small fire to the AMR22. This put an immediate end to the team’s programme in Barcelona but also meant Lance Stroll was unable to run in the afternoon. The fire also meant the team missed out on full wet conditions which occurred during the final afternoon at the test.

Despite the disappointment the Vettel and Stroll did manage to complete 296 laps across the three days, gathering plenty of data for the team to look over ahead of the Official Pre-Season Test at the Bahrain International Circuit.

Tom McCullough, Performance Director at Aston Martin was of course upset by the way the test ended, he does believe though that despite the setback the team ran a strong testing programme.

“The first two days’ testing in Barcelona were reasonably productive, but the third day was interrupted by a small oil leak that caused a small fire, which was efficiently controlled but sadly put an early end to our testing and prevented our trialling the new 18-inch tyres in the wet. In summary, though, apart from the issue that affected Sebastian’s running, we conducted a useful testing programme.

“With plenty of laps completed, we can now continue to learn as much as possible about the AMR22. Considering how different the cars are this year, not just from a regulation viewpoint but also with the 18-inch wheels, all data is hugely important to us. So we will now go back to Silverstone, work through our information, and aim to have a productive test next time out in Bahrain.”