McCullough: We know exactly what we need to improve

Aston Martin F1 Chief Engineer Tom McCullough has heaped praise on Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll for their professionalism and work ethic, despite the team not performing well this year.

Aston Martin failed to repeat last year’s success, when Fernando reached the podium six times in the first eight races of the season: the best result so far remains Alonso’s 5th place in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Tom McCullough: “Racers are always striving to show good results, and we understand that, so of course they don’t like it when the team introduces new products, and they don’t give the effect we expect.

Our racers are real professionals and during meetings with engineers they express their complaints in a very harsh way. At the same time, both give absolutely the same evaluations when talking about the car, and telemetry confirms this. That’s why we know exactly what we need to improve. That’s why the team is now working hard to prepare the next new products and implement them as soon as possible.”

McCullough also spoke highly of Andy Cowell, the former Mercedes chief mechanic who will take over as the team’s CEO in October, replacing Martin Whitmarsh.

“Andy obviously has a wealth of experience from his time at Cosworth and then Mercedes,” said Aston Martin’s chief engineer. “Martin has worked with him in the past and in our team he played a key role in creating the infrastructure of the new base where we now operate, while demonstrating strategic thinking.

I think now that someone like Cowell is joining us, he will continue what he started, because we have planned for quite a long transition period during which Whitmarsh will hand over responsibilities to his successor.

A specialist of this calibre will help to assess the picture as a whole and make important decisions that contribute to the further development of the team.”