Aston Martin’s warning regarding the evolution of single-seaters
Dan Fallows, Technical Director of Aston Martin, discussed the concepts, particularly aerodynamics, of Formula 1 cars. In a race for performance, it is necessary to find the right balance and, above all, understand it and make it work. This is what Aston Martin has managed to do at the beginning of this year.
The development of a car is the foundation of a Formula 1 team’s performance. The more efficient the car, the better the team’s results will be. It is therefore necessary for technical directors to fine-tune a high-performing car. Dan Fallows, technical director of Aston Martin, the surprise team of this early 2023 season, reflects on this theme of car concepts.
Is it impossible to quickly change concepts?
For Dan Fallows, there is no need to hesitate: if the concept of the single-seater doesn’t work, it must be changed. Remember last year, Aston Martin completely changed its concept in Barcelona, to the point that the competition even accused the British team of creating a green Red Bull. Nearly a year later, the AMR23 is the second strongest team on the grid, and surely thanks to this change.
However, Dan Fallows admits that making such a drastic change is often impossible for a technical director. Once one has committed to a particular aerodynamic concept, it is very difficult to fundamentally change it.
It will be interesting to see if someone will change, but the more time goes by, the harder it is to do so.
The relationship with Mercedes and Ferrari
«The Aston Martin engineer mentions commonalities with Mercedes and Ferrari. « There are conceptual differences between us and Ferrari, for example, and Mercedes, and we are actually very close in terms of pace at the moment », he said. This supports the fact that any concept can work and that « we really have to believe that it’s the right thing to do. »
Moreover, during the Miami Grand Prix, Dan Fallows was questioning the concepts of Ferrari and Mercedes. « I think it would be difficult for either of these teams to say that they took the wrong direction or that they do not want to change. »
Aston Martin versus Red Bull
Dan Fallows admits that the concept of the AMR23 is much less mature than that of the Red Bull, but Aston Martin is making steady progress and has real advantages, without neglecting progress.
We need to ask ourselves where we stand in relation to Red Bull, but I believe there are areas in which we are relatively strong.
“We also need to optimize our car for each specific track, which means that certain aspects, whether it’s low-speed or high-speed corners, are not as strong as with other competitors,” he said.
We publicly adopted a different concept at the beginning of last year and we continue to develop it. We believe we have taken a big step forward this year, but we still have a little way to go.
A future based on seriousness and lucidity
Dan Fallows believes that Ferrari and Mercedes are also working on their cars to catch up with Red Bull, and therefore it is necessary to remain focused and serious about the future situation. We absolutely want to start developing next year’s car as soon as possible.
« Inevitably, it will be a form of evolution of the car this year, so everything we can do to obtain data and updates on this year’s car will certainly influence it. » Inevitablement, il s’agira d’une forme d’évolution de la voiture cette année, donc tout ce que nous pouvons faire pour obtenir des données et des mises à jour sur la voiture de cette année l’influencera certainement.
« We can consider it as a kind of evolutionary step. But we don’t want to be any less aggressive in the way we develop this car than we were this year.
However, before looking into the future, we must also remain focused this year and not sacrifice everything: « The game is to make sure that we don’t sacrifice this year’s car. »
