Higher aero testing time a “big positive” for Aston Martin – Fallows

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In the round-up: Aston Martin technical director Dan Fallows says the team’s greater aerodynamic testing restrictions allowance is an advantage

In brief

Higher aero testing time a “big positive” for Aston Martin – Fallows

Aston Martin have a Aerodynamic Testing Restriction coefficient of 100% for finishing seventh in last year’s constructors’ championship. That gives them 37% more wind tunnel and CFD testing time than champions Red Bull, 25% more than Ferrari and 20% more than Mercedes.

“I think it definitely helps, it’s definitely been a big positive for us,” Fallows said, “because we had to do a lot of catching up with our development having changed concept last year. And I think we saw during last year that we managed to make a lot of progress with that concept. And that’s in no small part down to the ATR limits that we have.

“How much of a penalty would it be if that gets reduced in the future? Now I think that we’ve got a good development direction to pursue in, it shouldn’t be that much of a penalty – so it’s an advantage for sure.”

Buhler converts pole to first F1 Academy win

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Lena Buhler led from pole to win the third and final F1 Academy race at Circuit de Catalunya.

The ART driver beat the field down to turn one and never looked back, leading all 15 laps of the race to win by three seconds over Hamda Al Qubasi in second place. Championship leader Marta Garcia took her third podium of the weekend in third place to extend her points lead to 41 points over Al Qubasi.

Lawson leads Super Formula after second win

Red Bull junior and reserve driver Liam Lawson moved to the top of the Super Formula championship standings after taking his second win in four races at Autopolis.

Lawson, who is competing in his first season in the Japanese single-seater series, led home Ritomo Miyata who passed Sho Tsuboi in the final laps. It is Lawson’s second win in the opening four rounds of the season, giving a lead of four points over Miyata at the top of the championship

Tramnitz makes it two-for-two in FREC

Tim Tramnitz secured a clean sweep of the Formula Regional European Championship round at Circuit de Catalunya, taking victory in race two by again holding off Mercedes junior driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

Tramnitz won the race to turn one at the start for the second consecutive race, then again held off Antonelli throughout the race to eventually cross the line just under eight tenths of a second ahead of the Prema driver with Sami Meguetounif completing the podium.

The double victory shoots Tramnitz to the top of the drivers’ standings after two rounds, four points ahead of Antonelli.

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Charles: “Hmm… Smells like Ferrari’s strategy calls.”
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On this day in motorsport

  • On this day in 1983 Alain Prost won the first grand prix on the shortened Spa-Francorchamps, while Thierry Boutsen made his debut

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Will Wood
Will has been a RaceFans contributor since 2012 during which time he has covered F1 test sessions, launch events and interviewed drivers. He mainly...

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8 comments on “Higher aero testing time a “big positive” for Aston Martin – Fallows”

  1. Profile Photo

    Jere (@jerejj)
    22nd May 2023, 5:54

    An impressive drive by Lawson after his not-so-great start & losing out in traffic after his pit stop, not to mention his post-SC
    tyre disadvantage. By winning & taking the overall points lead, he more than perfectly made up for all these unideal factors.
    He continues to impress me, & at this rate, I’d be unsurprised if he replaced De Vries during the season, for example, after the summer break.

    Also another good drive by Tramnitz, but I was surprised how he & Antonelli were seemingly in another league in a full spec series.
    Another interesting note from both races was drivers constantly running wide between the last two corners, i.e., zero track limits enforcement.
    I thought F1 drivers will have to be especially careful at that place, not to quickly pick up five-second penalties because of exceeding their three-warning allowances.

  2. Profile Photo

    Diez Cilindros (@diezcilindros)
    22nd May 2023, 8:04

    I may be being a killjoy, but I have read several times something like this and it is inaccurate:

    That gives them 37% more wind tunnel and CFD testing time than champions Red Bull, 25% more than Ferrari and 20% more than Mercedes.

    AM has (say) 100 tunnel hours and Red Bull has 63. Red Bull has 37% less wind tunnel than AM but the opposite is not true: 100 hours are 59% more wind tunnel than Red Bull.

    Similar reasoning for Mercedes and Ferrari.

    1. Profile Photo

      Diez Cilindros (@diezcilindros)
      22nd May 2023, 8:04

      Sorry for typos, English is not my mother tongue.

      1. SteveM
        22nd May 2023, 10:22

        The “benchmark” number of wind tunnel runs is 40 runs per week.

        The amount of allowed wind tunnel time per team is then worked as a % of a total of 40 runs per week, depending on where they finished in the standing last year as below (so 7th, get 100% = 40 runs)

        2022 Position % # of runs
        1 70% 28
        2 75% 30
        3 80% 32
        4 85% 34
        5 90% 36
        6 95% 38
        7 100% 40
        8 105% 42
        9 110% 44
        10 115% 46

        Obviously RBR’s runs have been reduced further due to the budget cap overspend penalty

        1. SteveM
          22nd May 2023, 10:25

          …sorry, the formatting / tabs didn’t seem to work, but surely you can see what I mean.

  3. Profile Photo

    d0senbrot (@d0senbrot)
    22nd May 2023, 8:22

    While Lawson definitely impressed, it is important to note that his main rival and pre-race championship leader Tomoki Nojiri was diagnosed with a collapsed lung and did not participate in the race.
    A significant disadvantage in a season of only 9 races. Lets hope he recovers quickly so that Liam can prove himself against the two-time champion.

    While Lawson has failed to dominate in F2, it’s nice to see him shine once again in a new environment. Already his DTM (GT3) adventure, which received little attention except for the ridiculous season finale, was admirable.
    Even if he doesn’t make it to Formula 1, he has the talent to have a successful career in motorsport, be it open-wheel, GT or prototypes. But with success in Japan and the right circumstances at Alfa Tauri, he could soon get his chance.

    1. Profile Photo

      Jere (@jerejj)
      22nd May 2023, 10:04

      @d0senbrot True, he benefitted from Nojiri’s withdrawal, but overall, he’s performed impressively for a series rookie & beat Nojiri on merit in race 1.

  4. Profile Photo

    drmouse (@drmouse)
    22nd May 2023, 16:22

    This is where, were I in charge at Mercedes, I would probably be looking to finish as low as reasonably possible this year. They need as much testing time as possible if they are going to work on a new concept. They have plenty of financial backing, so don’t need the prize money or sponsorship bonuses for finishing higher. I’d probably write this off as a development year, looking to drop back to 4th or 5th, and then make the gains next year with additional testing available.

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