Dan Fallows has finally joined Aston Martin after a contractual dispute with Red Bull precluded him from leaving the Milton Keynes side.
Fallows made an agreement with Aston Martin to join them this year, and therefore gave notice to Red Bull in order to break his contract early.
However, the four-time constructors’ champions insisted that his contract did not expire until 2023, so team principal Christian Horner said at the Austrian Grand Prix last year that he would remain a member of his team until then.
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“Our situation with Dan is really clear. He’s working on the [2021] car, he is working on next year’s car,” said Horner.
“He’s still got a significant amount of time. He only signed the contract at the end of last year (2020), so there’s a significant period of time before mid-2023 comes up. We’ll obviously keep him busy during the rest of his contract.”
The Red Bull team then stated that Fallows “remains a Red Bull Technology employee.”
The matter went to court, and Fallows’ representatives told the judge that there is precedence of other employees leaving having handed in their notice, but Mr Justice Linden ruled that their circumstances were “different.”
The two teams eventually settled outside of court, and Red Bull agreed to allow their head of aerodynamics to join the Silverstone squad in April 2022.
“We are pleased to have reached an agreement with Red Bull which releases Dan early from his contract and are looking forward to him joining the team,” read a statement by Aston Martin.
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“We would like to thank Dan for his many years of excellent service and wish him well for the future,” added Red Bull.
Fallows himself revealed his gratitude for the time he spent at Red Bull, but is now excited to embark on a new adventure.
“I’ve enjoyed many happy years at Red Bull Racing and am proud of what we achieved. I am looking forward to next season and a new challenge,” he said.
Fallows officially joined Aston Martin earlier this month, according to his LinkedIn profile.
The Briton is expected to work closely with chief technical officer Andy Green at Aston Martin as they try to turn their fortunes around following a dire start to the 2022 season.