Aston Martin’s new technical director Dan Fallows has discussed the potential he sees in the Silverstone-based team, which he joined at the start of the year after being signed from Red Bull.
Fallows, who was the Austrians head of aerodynamics, will be instrumental in pushing Aston Martin towards the front of the midfield, after having little impact on this season’s AMR22 due to the timing of his move.
The 48-year-old has endured a somewhat turbulent first season since joining the British team, after being accused of stealing data from Red Bull when he moved.
Aston Martin were dubbed the ‘green Red Bull’ at the Spanish Grand Prix, after unveiling their first big upgrade package which happened to make the AMR22 look worryingly similar to the RB18.
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It resulted in Fallows’ friends contacting him after seeing the news break out, something he labelled as “embarrassing”.
The FIA deemed that no copying had been done and no data had been taken from the Milton Keynes-based team, which resulted in Red Bull quickly dropping their right for an investigation to take place.
With what happened at Barcelona having long gone, Fallows has opened up on just how similar the two sides are, not in regard to the car, but the team philosophy itself.
After taking over the Jaguar team in 2005, Red Bull rapidly rose to the front of the field with the help of an awful lot of money.
By 2010, the team had claimed their first World Championship and have clearly gone from strength to strength ever since.
Aston Martin owner Lawrence Stroll has obviously put an incredible amount of money into the team since buying it in 2018, whilst it was known as Force India.
At the start of 2021, the team became known as Aston Martin, with Fallows likening it to Red Bull’s takeover of Jaguar 17 years ago.
“One of the most exciting parts of the Red Bull journey was when the team evolved from Jaguar,” said Fallows on the official Aston Martin website.
“A small team with a very limited budget suddenly had significantly more budget, more resource and more technical strength right at the top of the organisation.
“Watching the team grow, being part of that growth, being part of the success, even making mistakes along the way and learning from them, it was incredibly exciting.
“What’s happening at Aston Martin F1 right now feels very similar to what happened at Red Bull then.”
Fallows had a role in the likely championship winning RB18 before departing the Austrian team, with the Brit admitting he wasn’t all that impressed by the AMR22 when he first saw it.
The Aston Martin employee is aiming to take the team’s 2023 car in a different direction to what they took for this season, which based on their current ninth place position, hasn’t been a success.
“When I saw the AMR22 for the first time, it was clearly quite different from the Red Bull philosophy,” he said.
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“Having worked on the Red Bull car in its initial stages – roughly half the aero development work had been done by the time I left – I have a pretty good understanding of what they have done and how they have approached things.
“I wouldn’t go so far as to say I looked at the AMR22 and thought it wouldn’t be quick, but I did think it would be a challenge to achieve the kind of performance Red Bull were going to achieve with the concept of their car.
“I was curious to see the thinking behind the AMR22 philosophy, but in fact by the time I arrived the team had already concluded they needed to pursue an alternative design solution.”