Photo: Aston Martin F1 Team / Twitter
Aston Martin is a Formula 1 team that has seen a lot of controversy and change of form during its existence in the sport. The team went from overachieving with limited resources as Force India to being involved in a drama for copying Mercedes’ design as Racing Point and falling down the order in the past couple of years.
When the 2022 season started, the Silverstone-based team seemed to be among the worst on the grind in terms of pace. However, Aston Martin kept working on the car and managed to match the previous year’s 7th-place performance, narrowly beaten by Alfa Romeo.
Now, Aston Martin will benefit from the experience of former Red Bull aero chief Dan Fallows, who became their technical director, and aerodynamicist Eric Blandin who previously worked for Mercedes. With these new additions to its roster, the team is looking to hit the ground running in 2023. Considering a new factory and wind tunnel are around the corner, this is the kickstart the team needs.
The development the car saw over the 2022 season is a direct result of it being designed to allow for a change of concept. And despite limitations imposed on development by the current rules, Fallows is confident that next year's car will represent an improvement. One main area of focus is downforce generation, which took a heavy hit from the FIA’s new floor regulations aimed at reducing porpoising.
Despite the challenge posed by the ground-effect era of Formula 1, Fallows believes that Aston’s improvement in pace, seen in the last part of the year, shows the team is on the right trajectory. He is convinced this will build the team’s confidence and that, by building on last year’s lessons, a very aggressive approach to development can be taken. And with Fernando Alonso now joining Aston Martin, his experience will further serve to help development.
The former Red Bull engineer was also impressed with the people on the team and stated, “What I have seen is a hugely passionate, very talented group of people, some of whom have been here for a very long time and have a huge amount of experience. So the main thing for us is to make sure we draw on that experience and that passion and don’t destroy that at the same time as trying to grow and turn us into a race-winning team.”
Now, Aston Martin will benefit from the experience of former Red Bull aero chief Dan Fallows, who became their technical director, and aerodynamicist Eric Blandin who previously worked for Mercedes. With these new additions to its roster, the team is looking to hit the ground running in 2023. Considering a new factory and wind tunnel are around the corner, this is the kickstart the team needs.
The development the car saw over the 2022 season is a direct result of it being designed to allow for a change of concept. And despite limitations imposed on development by the current rules, Fallows is confident that next year's car will represent an improvement. One main area of focus is downforce generation, which took a heavy hit from the FIA’s new floor regulations aimed at reducing porpoising.
Despite the challenge posed by the ground-effect era of Formula 1, Fallows believes that Aston’s improvement in pace, seen in the last part of the year, shows the team is on the right trajectory. He is convinced this will build the team’s confidence and that, by building on last year’s lessons, a very aggressive approach to development can be taken. And with Fernando Alonso now joining Aston Martin, his experience will further serve to help development.
The former Red Bull engineer was also impressed with the people on the team and stated, “What I have seen is a hugely passionate, very talented group of people, some of whom have been here for a very long time and have a huge amount of experience. So the main thing for us is to make sure we draw on that experience and that passion and don’t destroy that at the same time as trying to grow and turn us into a race-winning team.”
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