29/07/2022
NEWS STORY
Along with the raft of updates on Kevin Magnussen's Haas, further along the pitlane a new rear wing on the Aston Martin was causing a buzz at the Hungaroring.
The Silverstone-based outfit has seemingly found a loophole in the regulations with which it is hoping to claim back some of the downforce lost as a result of this season's regulations overhaul.
While the wing has been given the all clear by the FIA, it's understood that a number of rival teams are not happy and should the update prove successful protests could well follow, at least until said teams are able to duplicate the design.
Speaking after the opening sessions however, Sebastian Vettel, who on Thursday announced his retirement from the sport, played down the significance of the new wing despite posting the seventh best time of the day.
On the face of it, our pace today looked quite good," he admitted. "Our long runs were quite competitive, and I think we did a solid job as a team.
"But the car is still quite difficult to drive," he continued. "Obviously, there's a new rear wing, that's not a secret, but it's not a massive step in performance.
"I think it's doing what it was supposed to, so you don't see a big, big jump for us.
"Overall it's good to see that the team is trying to think of things and solutions," he added, "but you always wish that they were having more of an impact."
Asked if he expected rivals to protest the wing, the German, who was disqualified after finishing second here a year ago, was adamant: "No!" he replied.
Having downplayed the significance of the new wing, when asked the reason for the car's seeming improve pace, Vettel replied: "I think we probably were a bit more aggressive than maybe other Fridays.
"We didn't have any problems," he continued, "we were able to I think get a good feel of the car.
"It's still a bit disconnected here and there, and some stuff to do. Obviously we'll try to make the car faster. I think we can.
"Knowing that Sunday's dry, most likely it's probably the main objective," he added. "This is a track where you try to have and put all the downforce on the car that you can.
"If it's wet, then I think we really need to up our game compared to the last two times we had wet qualifying sessions," he admitted. "So a bit of homework and preparation to do, but for now, I think it's been a good start to the weekend."
Asked how the team might best prepare for a wet qualifying, he said: "The classical rain set-up doesn't exist anymore, those have been gone for a long, long, long time. I probably witnessed just the end of it when I joined a long time ago!
"Obviously we'll try to make the car faster. I think we can, knowing that Sunday's dry, most likely it's probably the main exercise, but also preparing for tomorrow as much as we can, knowing that there is rain coming."
Check out our Friday gallery from the Hungaroring here.