Dan Fallows hopes that Aston Martin can challenge Red Bull Racing next season. The technical director of the British racing team still sees the reigning world champion as a point of reference. That is why Fallows also understands that other teams are switching to Red Bull’s concept. As a result, the gaps in Formula 1 should also become a lot smaller next season.
Most teams are switching to Red Bull’s concept, while Aston Martin already took this step in 2022. Ultimately, the British racing team managed to realize the potential of the concept in 2023. Aston Martin certainly does not find the choices of the other teams strange. ‘When you have a team that has performed as well as Red Bull since 2022, it is inevitable that there will be some convergence. With the regulations we have now, there won’t be many cars that look very different visually,” says Fallows at RaceFans.
“Teams are coming very close and that means teams are probably less able to take a big step in terms of concept,” the technical director continues. Most racing stables think that Red Bull is close to the ceiling. However, there still seems to be plenty of room for improvement for Aston Martin. ‘There is still a lot of lap time to be gained and we take the approach that Red Bull can absolutely be beaten. That’s what we’re going for. We focus on them and that is what we strive for.’
Red Bull still the reference point
Last year, Aston Martin came closest at the beginning of the season, despite there still being a big gap. Fernando Alonso was on the podium several times, but the AMR23’s performance declined somewhat as the season progressed. Alonso was only sporadically on the podium in the second half of the season. Still, Aston Martin is going for the title. ‘We talk about Red Bull because they are of course the reference point in terms of performance. For us, the focus is on the one with the fastest car. That’s what we’re looking at.’
At the moment, the team from Silverstone mainly wants to focus on itself. Fallows wants to give his drivers a stable platform and a car that performs well on any track. “Those competitive statistics and how we get closer to Red Bull will come next. If we can add performance to the car we have given ourselves the opportunity to compete at that level, and that is exactly what we want,” said the technical director.
