Aston Martin has its biggest update package at Imola this season – Dan Fallows explains the background to the current development of the AMR24
Aston Martin says its biggest ever upgrade package for the 2024 Formula 1 season at Imola is just one step in an “aggressive” development program that builds on the setbacks of 2023
The team has cemented its place at the top of the midfield this year, but has usually only been fifth fastest, well behind fourth-placed Team Mercedes.
Aston has not yet been able to build on the podium finishes of 2023. Instead, the level of performance has fluctuated depending on the track, and there has also been a strange discrepancy between qualifying and race performance.
Fernando Alonso in particular often drove beyond the car’s natural position in qualifying, only to fall back to his usual place in the pecking order in the race.
Head of Engineering Dan Fallows explains that the team has found out why the car works better on some tracks than others and that the team is now implementing much of this knowledge with the major Imola update, which includes a redesign of the underbody and a new front wing and diffuser.
“The majority of this update is based on the car at the presentation and in testing and how we want to develop the car,” he says. “We’ve found that some tracks suit us better than others and that’s what we’ve focused on to make sure we do well everywhere.”
This is because the current ground-effect cars only have a certain window in which they work, and that is exactly what they want to extend. “When you bring out an update, you want to make sure it works in all conditions,” says Fallows.
Lessons learned after 2023 relapse
Aston Martin was the surprise of the first half of the 2023 season, but then gradually slipped to fifth place as the team struggled to maintain its pace of development throughout the season.
Fallows says many of the lessons learned from those mistakes have been incorporated into what he calls a “pretty aggressive” upgrade program. “We’ve identified areas where we can be tougher than before, and some things we need to be a bit more careful about,” he explains.
“It’s been an educational experience and I think we’re a bit more confident now that these improvements will work. It’s quite aggressive. We knew we had a car that would give us a lot of opportunities early in the season and we wanted to make sure we kept making improvements.”
“This is probably the biggest update we’ve had so far. But it’s just part of our plan and we want to keep going in the coming races. “
Development in the Mercedes wind tunnel
The development is currently still taking place in the Mercedes wind tunnel in Brackley, although Aston Martin moved to a new factory last year. But it will be a while before the new wind tunnel can be fully utilized. But that’s not a problem for Fallows
“It’s a very good wind tunnel,” he praises the Mercedes facility, but also emphasizes: “There will be certain things that we will be able to do in our wind tunnel that are a little better suited to the way we work, but that will take a little development time. However, there is nothing wrong with the wind tunnel we are currently using.”
In Imola, Fernando Alonso will have the upgrade in the car from the start, with teammate Lance Stroll also enjoying it from the second practice session.
