Aston Martin reveals major F1 upgrades for Canadian GP

The scale of Aston Martin’s upgrades for Formula 1’s Canadian Grand Prix has been revealed, with a major overhaul of its sidepods and floor.

The team has so far been quite conservative with its developments of the AMR23, with many of its main rivals having unleashed major changes to their 2023 challengers.

But just a fortnight after Fernando Alonso urged the team to step up its progress in a bid not to lose ground in the fight to be Red Bull’s main challenger, Aston Martin has made some pretty extensive changes to its car.

The revisions include much more aggressive sidepods, with a deeper and wider channel along the top that marks a significant step change from the concept it has used since the start of the season.

Aston Martin had followed Alpine’s lead in running what has been known as a ‘water slide’ channel along the top of its sidepods to help channel air over the top of the bodywork and into the floor area of the car.

The team also has a revised floor, that will complement the changes to the sidepods in a bid to drive more performance.

But while the team is hoping the changes can deliver a step to boost its chances in Montreal, Alonso himself has downplayed the prospect of the weekend offering it a dramatically improved chance of a win.

Asked if Canada gave the team its best chance of a victory so far this season, with him having been quite bullish after the Spanish GP, Alonso said: “No, I don’t think so. I don’t think so.

“I think it was more the reaction after Barcelona, knowing that probably was more a one-off, that we were uncompetitive, than being in Canada.

“I think we will be, hopefully, on a very competitive position all throughout the year, and maybe only Barcelona being a little bit out of pace. So that’s the hope.

“But I don’t think that we point at one weekend, here in Canada or any other has the biggest chance of winning.

“Probably Monaco was, to be honest, in our calendar, our best chance and we were very close: only 40 or 50 milliseconds off pole position, and then in the race, obviously the chance with the weather coming at the end. So, let’s see when we have another opportunity.”