Blandin: Many people on the base work the Japanese schedule

Ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix, Aston Martin deputy technical director Eric Blandin spoke about the new products prepared by the team and the upcoming stage…

Question: During the presentation, the AMR24 was called a ‘serious evolution’. How much has the car improved in the three races since the start of the season?
Erik Blandin: AMR24 meets our expectations. Over the winter we identified a number of areas for improvement and made progress. AMR24 has a good platform for further development, we have a plan with which we will refine this as the season progresses.

Q: What will change in the AMR24 design in Japan?
Erik Blandin: We have adjusted the design of the underbody, some elements of the body kit and the rear wing section. We look forward to the opportunity to evaluate the results of this work at the track.

Progress in Formula 1 is always relative, because rivals also do not stand still. It’s a constant race, but we hope new products will help close the gap with the leaders.

Question: The Suzuka circuit is a serious test for the car and the driver. What makes her special?
Erik Blandin: The configuration includes a unique combination of slow and fast corners, this makes it really challenging and allows you to better understand the car’s strengths and weaknesses.

If your car is fast at Suzuka, it will be fast at most other tracks. It’s a special place to push a car to its limits, a real challenge for drivers and engineers, rich history and incredible fan support.

This year the Japanese Grand Prix will be held earlier than last year, but I don’t think this will change the situation much. It will be cooler, but we are unlikely to experience the typhoons that sometimes occur later in the year. I don’t think the circumstances will be much different.
Question: What’s the secret to a fast lap in Suzuka?
Erik Blandin: The sketches of the first sector are quite difficult. We have learned in the past that if a car is good in the first sector, it will probably be fast around the whole track. There are two slow corners – the hairpin and the final chicane – but the rest of the circuit consists of medium and fast corners, which you need to focus on when setting up the car.

Q: How does the team handle the logistics of racing on the other side of the world?
Erik Blandin: After the Australian Grand Prix we immediately sent a lot of stuff to Japan – we didn’t want to take the equipment to Britain and then send it back.

Most of the team working in Australia returned home, but some traveled to Japan to minimize jet lag. Those who flew to Japan from Britain did so in advance to give them more time to adjust.

Many employees work at the AMR technology campus in the Japanese time zone, they live according to this schedule – they start work early in the morning, before the first training in Japan. Many of them started changing their clocks on Monday in preparation for the weekend.

Question: In two years, the Japanese Grand Prix will be the team’s home race, as Honda will supply us with power units from 2026. How is this collaboration developing?
Erik Blandin: Developing a new powertrain takes several years, so we started working with Honda immediately after announcing our partnership in May last year. Although teams are prohibited from working on the 2026 regulations from an aerodynamics point of view, and the regulations themselves are not yet fully defined, we were still able to enter into a partnership with Honda. This is a positive step, we work well together, exchange ideas and look forward to what the future brings.