Dan Fallows is stepping down as Aston Martin’s technical director, two-and-a-half years after taking over the role.
Aston Martin hired Fallows from Red Bull in 2021. He joined the team the following April after the teams agreed a settlement over the length of his notice period.Fallows is one of many senior hirings Aston Martin has made from rival teams since it benefited from investment by CEO Lawrence Stroll. It has since announced the appointment of one of Fallows’ former colleagues at Red Bull, its star designer Adrian Newey, who will arrive in the new year.
Aston Martin achieved a significant step forward in performance last year with the AMR23 chassis which Fallows led the design work on. The team briefly held second place in the constructors’ championship, and though it eventually fell to fifth, they picked up eight podium finishes over the course of the season.
However the team’s formed dipped as the season went on following a succession of unsuccessful upgrades. That pattern continued into this year, and they have only achieved a single top-five finish so far.
Aston Martin Group CEO Andy Cowell, who arrived at the team from Mercedes earlier this year, confirmed the change in the team’s technical division. “I would like to thank Dan for his contribution to Aston Martin Aramco in the last two years,” he said. “Dan led the team to the success of the AMR23 which secured eight podiums last season.”
Fallows will remain within the Aston Martin group. He said it had been “a joy and a privilege to guide the technical team on their journey towards being race and championship winners.
“It is time for me to pass on the baton, but I look forward to watching the team’s future success, which I am sure will come soon.”
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Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
12th November 2024, 13:44
No surprises. A shake up was imminent once all the others started to arrive.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
12th November 2024, 23:19
if hes a scapegoat, I am afraid for Newey. Personally I think it was a huge mistake for Adrian to leave Red Bull during their time of need and obvious political cajoling by political rivals. Maybe karma has something in stock for Newey, who knows.
Dex
13th November 2024, 2:08
Ehm, the man left one mega corporation to join another. You’re talking as if he left his pregnant girlfriend or something. People change jobs, life is short; especially when you’re in his age. I’m sure his feelings will be hurt when he reads this…
reggie747
15th November 2024, 18:19
No, that was Horner a few years back…..
Raymond
13th November 2024, 6:37
You have to remember Adrian is now a shareholder. He can’t just be scapegoated as a firing
Illusive (@illusive)
13th November 2024, 14:13
Its not even same, he already said he felt the engineering department felt overshadowed by him at RedBull, so he wanted to give them the space and opportunity since he felt there was not much challenge anymore.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
12th November 2024, 23:22
When Alonso starts becoming much faster than Stroll, I will know Aston are serious about the performance of their car, all I have seen currently from them this year, is their attempt to build around Stroll, where in some races he seemed faster and more prepared than Alonso, which indicates that Alonso is being shelved like Vettel before him.
If their recent drop off has to do with their driver priorities, Newey is screwed.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
13th November 2024, 2:57
Yes, they can’t possibly win anything building the car around stroll, the car will not be able to overcome for example his deficit to verstappen.
Raymond
13th November 2024, 6:38
To be completely fair… I would still bet on a Stroll in a McLaren, over Verstappen in a Sauber. Stroll isn’t that good but the car accounts for a lot more than people like to credit, in F1
SPArtacus
13th November 2024, 9:44
Stroll in a McLaren and Max in the Mercedes would be about even odds. And I consider Max to be at least the equal of any F1 driver in history. Max in a Sauber has maybe 10 points, at most, this season.
SPAartacus
13th November 2024, 9:49
To be clear, this is assuming Stroll has Singapore level McLaren the entire season and Max has the Mercedes at its varying levels of performance.
SPArtacus
13th November 2024, 6:14
Oh, please. There’s nothing to worry about. Anyone who thinks Adrian Newey could be forced to or would ever focus on designing the car around Stroll doesn’t know anything about Newey.
As for the idea Newey should have been “loyal to Red Bull in their time of need:”
a) maybe RBR shouldn’t have been downplaying his importance in creating a winning chassis before he even made the decision to leave
b) the car hadn’t even begun to have big issues when he made his decision to leave (Suzuka)
c) they shouldn’t have disregarded his objections over the winter on the design path they chose (and he has been vindicated as the further the car has gotten away from his design, the worse it’s gotten)
d) What does Newey owe RBR? They should be grateful he stuck around as long as he did.
Larry M Gottschalk
14th November 2024, 2:33
Can’t they just put Lance in chage of catering or something?
Osnola
14th November 2024, 15:14
He will spill the Coffee .