Why Aston Martin will not imitate its way to victory in Formula One

The year 2023 will be a significant turning point in Aston Martin's five-year ambition to compete at the top of Formula 1.

Sebastian Vettel in an Aston Martin Car. (Image Credit: Twitter)
By Mahaksh Chauhan | Dec 22, 2022 | 3 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

The team’s new £200 million facility is scheduled to launch its first phase in May, providing a substantial boost to its expansion efforts. Fernando Alonso’s arrival is also expected to be a major plot point through 2023. Three out of five years is a huge year. Although it has recruited talent from a variety of teams across the sport and may desire to compete for world titles like Mercedes and Red Bull, Aston Martin is not trying to imitate its way to success in Formula 1. It wants to operate in the Aston Martin manner because it understands that innovation is the only way to outperform more seasoned competitors.

Dan Fallows, technical director at Aston Martin, who joined the company in April after spending 15 years at Red Bull, said, “The crucial thing for us is to make sure we don’t just mimic what our competitors do.” “We don’t think that will enable us to pass teams like Red Bull, Mercedes, and Ferrari. Therefore, we need to create our own procedures.

Takes time

Fallows acknowledged that the procedure “does take time,” but he felt that the new factory’s development “demonstrates this momentum.” The facility should feel like Aston Martin, not like the basis of another F1 team, as owner Lawrence Stroll has made plain. In addition to the facility itself, Fallows claimed that the factory was aiding in “accelerating the process of advancing up the grid and getting into a winning situation” through the added drive and vigour it would give to all team members.

Not being arrogant

But there will also be a natural exchange of ideas or procedures that worked in other places as a result of the inflow of personnel from other teams, with Fallows maybe the most high-profile signing, other from Alonso. It ought to produce a balanced fusion that will be advantageous to Aston Martin in the long run and aid in its ability to determine its own course. Fallows stated, “We’re pretty open-minded about the direction we expand in. “I have experience with Red Bull, and we have had individuals join us from Mercedes and other teams. Fernando also has a wide range of experience. We’re not so arrogant as to think we have a way of doing things that we’ll slavishly adhere to. Therefore, if he has any experience to share with us, we will certainly consider it.

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Alonso ready for 2023

Alonso might be the most notable acquisition for Aston Martin in 2023, raising the bar for the team’s performance. But Fallows has more recent experience, having worked with Red Bull on a team that won a championship. Fallows claimed that Red Bull’s success was due to a methodical approach that ensured there were “no places where you have significant deficiencies.” Fallows had every reason to be proud of it, and the Aston Martin technical staff, which is continuously expanding, may benefit greatly from it. The main message is that you must ensure that there are no gaps in any area of what you’re doing, he added. There is nothing you are doing that could jeopardise your performance.