Aston Martin F1’s lackluster results lead to Dan Fallows’ departure, as Tom McCullough outlines the reasons behind the move.
The joint arrivals of Adrian Newey and Ernesto Cardile at Aston Martin F1 led to a logical outcome: Dan Fallows’ departure from his role as technical director.
The former deputy to Newey in Milton Keynes paid the price for Aston Martin F1’s lack of performance, stuck in recurring development issues. Since early 2023, the team has been on a downward slope.
Fallows has been “reassigned” within the Silverstone team—a polite way to say… sidelined?
“The team’s performances this year didn’t reach the level we all wanted. We fell short. And this is essentially a decision made by the team,” explained Tom McCullough, the team’s performance director, in justification of the decision.
“I’ve worked alongside Dan for two or three years since he’s been here. I’ve collaborated closely with him. He’s had a significant impact on the development of the 2022 and 2023 cars. He really brought a lot to the team, to be honest.”
“From that perspective, it was a pleasure working with him. But ultimately, in 2024, we haven’t been at the level on track where we knew we needed to be and wanted to be.”
“Developing these cars has been challenging, and in the end, this is a performance-based industry, isn’t it? The team decided to make changes.”
With regulatory stability, 2025 is shaping up to be as difficult as 2024 for Aston Martin F1.
However, Tom McCullough refuses to give in to pessimism and believes Aston Martin F1 has learned from the mistakes made over the past 18 months.
“I genuinely believe we’ve understood the car, but the proof will be in the results, won’t it? Living in a world of CFD and wind tunnel testing is one thing. Seeing what the car actually does on track is another.”
“But I think what we’ve learned this year puts us in a good position, even if, obviously, we would have liked it to happen a bit earlier.”
A reason for optimism for Aston Martin F1’s management: Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll align in their feedback.
“I think both drivers are fairly aligned in their feedback and on the car’s limitations. They want a more competitive car. They want to fight for points every week and aim for the top of the standings.”
“And when we don’t give them a car capable of doing that, they’re never satisfied, and we understand that it’s tough.”
“We have many meetings with the drivers, either online or at the factory, to explain what we’re doing, why we’re doing it, and what we’ve discovered. Keeping them informed, I think, is important.”
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Performance Woes Force Aston Martin to Cut Fallows Performance Woes Force Aston Martin to Cut Fallows
