Aston Martin has invested a hefty sum of around $200,000,000 into erecting a bespoke wind tunnel of their own in their Silverstone campus. While the new factory opened its doors just recently, the team’s Technical Director, Dan Fallows, has revealed why they still rent Mercedes’ wind tunnel for their requirements.
Fallows was quoted on X (formerly Twitter) explaining why the team still uses Mercedes’ premises to utilize their aero-testing hours. He began by saying, “It’s a very good wind tunnel. It’s a very competitive wind tunnel in F1 these days.”
Speaking about Aston Martin’s own wind tunnel, Fallows revealed that it would still take a while to develop and optimize their set-up. “There are certain things that we’re going to be able to do in our own wind tunnel which are a bit more suited to the way that we like to work, but obviously those things will take a little bit of time to develop,” he added.
Fernando said that he’s seen the new wind tunnel. Do you anticipate an instant impact of that or will it take time to make sure it correlates? Do you anticipate an instant impact?
Dan Fallows: I think the wind tunnel we’re using at the moment is the Mercedes one down in Brackley pic.twitter.com/99lFnQee0H
— Junaid #JB17 (@JunaidSamodien_) May 22, 2024
Technical prowess is going to be key if Aston Martin want to realistically bid for the F1 title in the future. Last year, the early-season spec AMR23 was arguably the third or second-fastest car on the grid. Fernando Alonso’s tally of podiums in the first half of the season are a testament to that.
However, as the season progressed, the team fell back in the developmental race. By the end of the season, they had lost their advantage to the likes of Ferrari, McLaren, and Mercedes. Therefore, it would be crucial for Aston Martin to get on top of their research and development moving forward.
Did Mercedes’ wind tunnel let Aston Martin down in 2023?
Mercedes themselves struggled towards the end of last year despite finishing P2 in the Constructors’ Championship. Therefore, it is possible that Mercedes’ wind tunnel might have had a hand in Aston Martin’s downfall last year as well.
Speaking to PlanetF1.com, Aston Martin’s project director for the new premises, Guy Austin, explained the limitations of using Mercedes’ campus. He said,
“At the moment, we rent time in somebody else’s wind tunnel. And because it’s their wind tunnel, we can only test at certain times that are not necessarily the most convenient or when we really want to do a test.”
This could explain why the team struggled to keep up with their competition during the latter half of the season. A testament to how unoptimized upgrades can ruin a car concept came at the 2023 US Grand Prix held in Austin. It led to the team even publicly admitting that they had taken a wrong decision with their upgrades’ direction.
