Aston Martin’s performance director Tom McCullough has revealed that they had different doors to Mercedes when using the Silver Arrows’ wind tunnel, to ensure confidentiality.
Prior to Aston Martin’s new wind tunnel being completed at their Silverstone base, the British side used Mercedes’ wind tunnel.
Mercedes ensured that the relationship between themselves and Aston Martin remained strictly professional, to the extent that when one team was using the wind tunnel the other wasn’t in sight.
McCullough explained how Mercedes and Aston Martin had different access doors to the wind tunnel, with different people having operated the facility depending on which team were using it.
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This “very robust” setup was absolutely critical, as the FIA are “pretty strict” in regard to how closely a manufacturer works with their customer teams.
Until Aston Martin’s partnership with Honda starts in 2026, the Silverstone-based outfit are a Mercedes customer team.
The governing body “police” teams potentially working together, which is why such extreme measures were put in place whilst allowing Aston Martin to use their facility.
“The FIA are pretty strict and do a lot of inspections and all that stuff,” McCullough is quoted by Motorsport.com.
“Dominic Harlow [head of F1 technical audit for the governing body] comes and visits the teams.
“But for us with Mercedes, it is absolutely shut down to one, open to the other. Different access doors, different people running the sessions.
“So, I think from a confidentiality [point of view], obviously the relationship we have with Mercedes is very robust from that side. The FIA, that’s their job to police all that.”
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Teams working together is becoming a growing concern in the paddock, with Aston Martin having been docked points and fined in 2020 whilst competing under the Racing Point name, for copying Mercedes’ rear brake ducts.
Now, Red Bull’s relationship with sister team AlphaTauri is being watched with eagle eyes, as the Faenza-based side suddenly improved dramatically in the closing stages of the 2023 season.
AlphaTauri CEO Peter Bayer has already confirmed that they’ll be working much closer to Red Bull next year and will take as many parts from the Austrians as legally possible.