Dan Fallows has stepped away from his role as technical director at the Aston Martin F1 team.
Now it has been revealed that his removal was due to the team not matching its expectations on the performance side.
The Briton joined the team in 2022 from Red Bull and immediately helped with the development of its cars.
The year after was a great success with great performance resulting in multiple podium finishes.
However, 2024 is not going as planned due to less progress made during the off-season.
After a lot of changes within the team, including high-profile technical hires such as Adrian Newey from Red Bull and Ferrari’s Enrico Cardile, it was also decided to move Fallows to a different role.
Fallows exit has ”performance-based” reasons
According to performance director Tom McCullough, the decision by Aston Martin F1 to drop Fallows was made due to performance-based reasons.
He explains that the team did not perform on a level it has expected. As a result changes were made.
“The performance of the team this year hasn’t been at the level that we’ve all been wanting it to be at. So we haven’t quite delivered there.
“And that’s basically been a decision made by the team,” McCullough said ahead of the F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix.
“I sat next to Dan for the last two or three years since he’s been here, working closely with him, he had a really big impact on the development of the ’22 car, the ’23 car, he’s brought a lot to the team, to be honest.
“From that side, it’s been good fun working with him.
”But ultimately during ’24, we haven’t delivered on track to the level that we know we’re expecting to and wanting to do.
“The development of these cars has been hard and ultimately it’s a performance-based industry, isn’t it? And the team’s made the decision to make some changes.”
This year’s difficulties will help for 2025
McCullough later explained that the team had made significant progress in understanding the challenges of the AMR24.
They had focused on addressing weaknesses, such as aerodynamics and balance, and implemented measures to resolve them.
He expressed confidence that these insights would put the team in a much stronger position for 2025.
“I really do think [we’ve got a handle on the car], but the proof of that pudding’s in the eating, isn’t it?
“So, you know, living in a CFD and Wind Tunnel world is one thing; I think that side of things is progressing reasonably well.
”It’s a relative game. So until that car hits the track and you see what it does in reality you don’t know for sure.
“But I do think the learning we’ve been through this year is putting us in a good place, but obviously we’re wanting to have that a bit earlier in all reality.”
Drivers consistent with their feedback
He added that both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll had been consistent in their feedback on the car and understood the challenges of adapting to the drop in performance this year.
Their input had been key in identifying areas for improvement and guiding the team’s efforts to address the issues.
“I think the two drivers are pretty aligned in their feedback and the limitations of the car.
“I think they’re both wanting a more performant car, they want to be fighting for points week in, week out, and at the top end for points.
“And when we don’t give them a car that can do that, they’re never happy, and we understand it’s difficult.
“We have a lot of meetings with the drivers, either online or at the factory, explaining to them what we’re doing, why we’re doing, what we’ve found.
“Just keeping them in the loop so they understand, I think is important.”
