Formula 1 engineers who work in the factory, and not in the circuit team, tend to be men of few words and not necessarily good speech. The exception that proves the rule is Dan Fallows (United Kingdom, 49 years old), the specialist who has been the technical director of Aston Martin since last summer. He was head of aerodynamics at Red Bull, one of the most important positions at the Milton Keynes plant, and the Silverstone team signed him from 2022 as part of their program to expand the possibilities of the green car. They also hired Eric Blandin, same position at Mercedes.
The result will be seen on the track from the Bahrain tests (February 23-25), but it can already be said that the AMR23 is signed by them: Andrew Green, former Aston Martin Technical Director and a strong man among engineers since that team was called Jordan (later Force India or Racing Point) has stepped aside to take charge of the technological division of the group, “but already out of Formula 1″, they specify. Everything is in the hands of Fallows and his team. New time in Fernando Alonso’s team.
And who is Fallows? If Adrian Newey reinvented aerodynamics in motorsports with his daring designs at Williams, McLaren and above all Red Bull; Fallows can be defined as one of his outstanding disciples. He studied Aeronautical Engineering in Southampton and specialized in aerodynamics since 1997. He signed for Jaguar Racing in 2001 and developed in that field until he became one of the top aerodynamic managers between 2006 and 2014; and department head until 2022. There he worked closely with Newey for years of success.
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“Adrian has a unique approach, focused on the small details. And he doesn’t have any kind of arrogance, he is open and respects any comments wherever they come from. The technical teams must be open, even if you have a clear idea of how the car should be, you have to listen to someone who suggests something, because it could be better”, Fallows explains about his relationship with the most famous British engineer in the World Championship.
Aston Martin tools
He also compares Aston Martin’s tooling (its imposing new factory is still under construction) to Red Bull’s massive display: “We have the facilities to be competitive, but we must be realistic, we are not at the level of the ‘top’ teams. We are very strong in terms of facilities, I am impressed with the general level of the team”, he begins. If anything, it focuses on what would bring the Silverstone house closer to the level of Mercedes, Red Bull or Ferrari, which is obvious: “What we may be missing, we are lucky to use the Mercedes wind tunnel, but nothing it’s better than having your own. Does that prevent us from improving as we want? Absolutely not, but it does prevent us from sustaining earnings in the future.” At least the roadmap is underway.
