Chris Cronin: The handling of the AMR25 has improved

      Chris Cronin starts the 2025 season in a new position – he has been appointed chief engineer of Aston Martin F1, he has more work and worries, but here is how he assessed the results of the team's preparations for the next championship.

      Chris Cronin: "After the tests, we got a definite idea of the capabilities of the AMR25, our new car, but we'll have to wait for the weekend in Melbourne to really find out. But even after that, it will be necessary to hold several Grands Prix on different types of tracks in order to get a complete picture of the balance of power.

      As always, it's difficult to determine exactly how fast you are compared to other teams in tests, and only after the first qualifying and the first race will we see who is capable of what.

      The importance of the race weekend, which opens the season, also lies in the fact that only now everyone will reveal their cards and demonstrate their real pace. It seems that the forces of many teams are at about the same level, but this should not be surprising, given that the regulations have remained stable for several years, and the cars have become comparable in design.

      So the fight promises to be very intense, and even some nuances can noticeably affect the results, so we must ensure that all possible aspects are optimized.

      Compared to last year, we have made progress in those areas of the car that we have found have the greatest impact on lap time, but there are still a number of other aspects that need to be addressed.

      Overall, the results are about what we expected, and the handling of the AMR25 has improved. This is exactly what we aimed to achieve during the winter off-season..."