Aston Martin had a rather abysmal season in 2024, relative to their stellar 2023 which saw them clinch eight podiums. The Silverstone-based outfit went from being a potential race-winning team to becoming another backmarker, struggling to scrape off points. There is a good chance 2025 could have something similar in store, but Aston seems ready to bounce back in style when new regulations come in.
Recent reports from Auto Racer suggest that the Silverstone-based team will have their brand-new wind tunnel operational by February 2025. This could be a significant boost for Aston Martin, as it marks the time to reap the rewards of owner Lawrence Stroll’s visionary investment in upgrading their infrastructure a few years ago.
All eyes are on the wind tunnel site.
Take a deeper look at the latest progress from the brand-new AMF1 factory build below.
— Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team (@AstonMartinF1) April 17, 2023
The Canadian business magnate reportedly invested around $200 million to build a state-of-the-art campus and factory, which also included a wind tunnel. Usually, the cost of building a new wind tunnel is around $100 million and smaller teams with a tight budget cannot afford it.
Before Stroll’s takeover in 2018, Aston Martin (known as Force India) was also a team with a modest budget. Even the preceding identity of the team—Jordan—did not have as much money to have their own wind tunnel on-site.
Now that Aston Martin will have it, they can put it to good use and develop a solid race-winning car for the new 2026 regulations. They could also threaten the top four teams’ dominance, as some experienced personnel will also join their technical team to boost their intellectual resources ahead of 2026.
Their current technical director Dan Fallows is stepping away into a different role in the car company. But Aston Martin has Ferrari’s technical honcho Enrico Cardile coming in alongside the Red Bull aero genius, Adrian Newey.
How Aston Martin is gearing up for 2026 under Newey
Newey’s arrival at team Silverstone will be the biggest aid for Stroll’s ambitions of making Aston Martin a championship-winning outfit. The British designer will join the team in March 2025, as per the details announced in September this year when Newey’s signing was officially revealed.
Alongside Newey being the managing technical partner, the leadership structure will also house Andy Cowell as the Group CEO, replacing Martin Whitmarsh. Cowell has been well-versed with engine development at Mercedes during their dominant days in F1 (2014-2021) and will be mainly working with Bob Bell, who will be the executive director of the team.
Introducing our Managing Technical Partner, Adrian Newey. pic.twitter.com/dFlop90SyS
— Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team (@AstonMartinF1) September 10, 2024
The Race reported that Bell and Cowell will oversee the integration of the technical brain power they have on board with the state-of-the-art technological tools at the Silverstone campus. Meanwhile, Newey along with Cardile, who will assume the role of the Chief Technical Officer, will focus on the car development aspect with other engineering talents like Luca Furbatto.
Aston Martin also has Honda coming on board as their engine partner, which could be another huge boost as the Japanese manufacturer has developed a championship-winning engine for Red Bull in recent years. Naturally, Newey has great experience of working with Honda and would not face any issues to continue that relationship at Aston.
