2024 Aston Martin | Aramco F1 Team

[diffuser]

Dan Fallows is paying the price, needless to say. As technical director, he has not convinced the management. At the moment it is still unclear what his position within the 2025 framework will be. There is even talk of a possible farewell, because a subordinate role in the Valkyrie project, moving to the WEC, would not be welcome. Cardile comes to Aston Martin through the front door. The 49-year-old from Arezzo is the new ‘chief technical officer’. Enrico will manage all the supervision regarding the technical development of the car, under the watchful eye of Adrian Newey.

The Stratford-Upon-Avon genius has always had clear ideas and prefers to command an operational pyramid that is not too large. A complex department in its form slows down decisions. For this reason, according to information, Cardile should directly absorb all of Fallows' tasks, making the “operational exercise” of the factory more agile and functional. So many responsibilities for the ex-Ferrarista, which would, however, reduce the working time of the British racing stable and not a little. This is the scheme that Aston Martin will adopt from the next world championship.

https://www.funoanalisitecnica.com/2024 ... s-via.html

Cowell: ‘If you have a little time to think, you realise what's important to you, and to me, is efficiency. What I hated in HPP was the waste of time’

‘I would get annoyed when I saw that something wasn't working efficiently. For example, when responsibilities overlapped. It was even worse when there was a gap and a lack of communication,’ he reiterates.

https://www.motor.es/formula-1/andy-cow ... 05263.html

So it seems Cardile will just take over Fallows' responsibilities. Newey and Cowell seem to both want a simplified pyramid which is a good idea, there were too many cooks and duplicitious roles for sure. Probably a Whitmarsh McLaren legacy...

Transition until everyone ends gardening and gets working in proper roles and hope Honda does well from the start. Fingers crossed.

Going after Newey and Cardile could be evidence that Lawrence was done with Fallows back in April. That's the way I'd do it. I'd leave the guy there and start looking for a replacement. It's what he did with Otmar, hired a replacement then started taking responsibility away and Otmar left on his own.

It's Lawrence that's been doing all the hiring. Whitmarsh didn't seem to have much to do with the day-to-day. He seemed more involved with the the 3 buildings. That work is done so he's being replaced by a racer.

I also don't think Cardile Left being a TD at Ferrari to be TD at AMR. He came to be CTO, so yeah he's responsible for the TD but he's not gonna do the job. He'll find a replacement or adjust the structure where those responsibility go to more than 1 person.

[Rikrikrik]

Anyone know when AM will can literally starts to use the new WT? not configure, not comissioning, literally desfrute of the data and develop things on it.

I posted a September article in here not long ago that said December/January time frame. They'll then run both in parallel (comparing results) till they're happy that they don't need the Merc one. I presume that will be fast as nobody wants to keep going to the Merc WT on Friday till Sunday.

Yeah but, im questioning myself. If they cant understand own problems, how they can commisioned and calibrate the new WT properly and with precision if they cant work "decently" in Mercedes. I dont understand nothing about these things, but, for me these things are correlated, no?

[diffuser]

Anyone know when AM will can literally starts to use the new WT? not configure, not comissioning, literally desfrute of the data and develop things on it.

I posted a September article in here not long ago that said December/January time frame. They'll then run both in parallel (comparing results) till they're happy that they don't need the Merc one. I presume that will be fast as nobody wants to keep going to the Merc WT on Friday till Sunday.

Yeah but, im questioning myself. If they cant understand own problems, how they can commisioned and calibrate the new WT properly and with precision if they cant work "decently" in Mercedes. I dont understand nothing about these things, but, for me these things are correlated, no?

So the correlation Fallows described as being the problem was the interaction between the floor and the ground in different turn scenarios(speed, bumps, roughness of the pavements, etc). Maybe the Merc WT just doesn't have the tools to look into that? It wasn't that they didn't achieve the DF levels. It was that it fluctuated to the point that the drivers lost confidence in the car.

[AR3-GP]

So the correlation Fallows described as being the problem was the interaction between the floor and the ground in different turn scenarios(speed, bumps, roughness of the pavements, etc). Maybe the Merc WT just doesn't have the tools to look into that? It wasn't that they didn't achieve the DF levels. It was that it fluctuated to the point that the drivers lost confidence in the car.

I would find it strange if the Mercedes windtunnel didn't have the right tools considering they were the highest spender in the sport before the budget cap.

[diffuser]

So the correlation Fallows described as being the problem was the interaction between the floor and the ground in different turn scenarios(speed, bumps, roughness of the pavements, etc). Maybe the Merc WT just doesn't have the tools to look into that? It wasn't that they didn't achieve the DF levels. It was that it fluctuated to the point that the drivers lost confidence in the car.

I would find it strange if the Mercedes windtunnel didn't have the right tools considering they were the highest spender in the sport before the budget cap.

There wasn't anybody looking at the aero under a flat floor that was the only thing allowed prior to the reg change of 2022. Just the diffuser.

[collindsilva]

With Honda power unit for 2026, does AMR need to manufacture the suspension and gearbox inhouse or can they buy form merc, how is the compatibility for the same.
Are we looking into reliability issues on these if manufactured inhouse...

[zoroastar]

With Honda power unit for 2026, does AMR need to manufacture the suspension and gearbox inhouse or can they buy form merc, how is the compatibility for the same.
Are we looking into reliability issues on these if manufactured inhouse...

they will be building their own. theres always a possibilty for reliability problems. aston were lobbying to have the gearbox become a standard supply component a while back. meaning all teams would use the same gearbox, but i havent heard much about it in a while. they said to cut costs, but im sure that part of the reason was their lack of experience building their own (and possible reliability issues). it would make sense under a cost cap though. it would be one less thing that teams need to allocate their limited budgets for.

[laspeorasdeaston]

So the correlation Fallows described as being the problem was the interaction between the floor and the ground in different turn scenarios(speed, bumps, roughness of the pavements, etc). Maybe the Merc WT just doesn't have the tools to look into that? It wasn't that they didn't achieve the DF levels. It was that it fluctuated to the point that the drivers lost confidence in the car.

I would find it strange if the Mercedes windtunnel didn't have the right tools considering they were the highest spender in the sport before the budget cap.

Merc also had problems with extreme bouncing. The wind tunnel works fine, but it has problems simulating the floor efect. That is something the new wind tunnel is looking forward to fix.

[diffuser]

With Honda power unit for 2026, does AMR need to manufacture the suspension and gearbox inhouse or can they buy form merc, how is the compatibility for the same.
Are we looking into reliability issues on these if manufactured inhouse...

they will be building their own. theres always a possibilty for reliability problems. aston were lobbying to have the gearbox become a standard supply component a while back. meaning all teams would use the same gearbox, but i havent heard much about it in a while. they said to cut costs, but im sure that part of the reason was their lack of experience building their own (and possible reliability issues). it would make sense under a cost cap though. it would be one less thing that teams need to allocate their limited budgets for.

https://www.pmw-magazine.com/features/t ... ridge.html
Interesting article..
I was intrigued to find out that nobody really builds their own gearbox. They design them, yes. They assemble them, yes. They don't manufacture the parts that go into them. Most of that is done by companies like Ricardo.

Based on that article, their 2026 gearbox is already built and in testing phase.

[TyreSlip]

With Honda power unit for 2026, does AMR need to manufacture the suspension and gearbox inhouse or can they buy form merc, how is the compatibility for the same.
Are we looking into reliability issues on these if manufactured inhouse...

they will be building their own. theres always a possibilty for reliability problems. aston were lobbying to have the gearbox become a standard supply component a while back. meaning all teams would use the same gearbox, but i havent heard much about it in a while. they said to cut costs, but im sure that part of the reason was their lack of experience building their own (and possible reliability issues). it would make sense under a cost cap though. it would be one less thing that teams need to allocate their limited budgets for.

https://www.pmw-magazine.com/features/t ... ridge.html
Interesting article..
I was intrigued to find out that nobody really builds their own gearbox. They design them, yes. They assemble them, yes. They don't manufacture the parts that go into them. Most of that is done by companies like Ricardo.

Based on that article, their 2026 gearbox is already built and in testing phase.

I wonder how much this has hurt AM's cost cap. Having to purchase Mercedes gear boxes while R&D for their own.

[Nikosar]

Thanks for the video. Interesting theory on the impact of Whitmarsh's management on the way the car was developed, and particularly on the development of the floor, so also on Fallows' work.

Fallows departure could also be part of the plan since the beginning of the adventure. Many people was expecting a major change before 2026 regardless of the performance.

[Nikosar]

they will be building their own. theres always a possibilty for reliability problems. aston were lobbying to have the gearbox become a standard supply component a while back. meaning all teams would use the same gearbox, but i havent heard much about it in a while. they said to cut costs, but im sure that part of the reason was their lack of experience building their own (and possible reliability issues). it would make sense under a cost cap though. it would be one less thing that teams need to allocate their limited budgets for.

https://www.pmw-magazine.com/features/t ... ridge.html
Interesting article..
I was intrigued to find out that nobody really builds their own gearbox. They design them, yes. They assemble them, yes. They don't manufacture the parts that go into them. Most of that is done by companies like Ricardo.

Based on that article, their 2026 gearbox is already built and in testing phase.

I wonder how much this has hurt AM's cost cap. Having to purchase Mercedes gear boxes while R&D for their own.

Williams chose to keep the 2023 old Mercedes gearbox and pull-rod suspension on the 2024 F1 car and they are now faster than Aston. Alonso himself said there is no point in finishing 4th or 7th in 2025, so if the cost cap is reaching its limit they can use the old suspension for 2025 and focus on 2026.

[diffuser]

https://www.pmw-magazine.com/features/t ... ridge.html
Interesting article..
I was intrigued to find out that nobody really builds their own gearbox. They design them, yes. They assemble them, yes. They don't manufacture the parts that go into them. Most of that is done by companies like Ricardo.

Based on that article, their 2026 gearbox is already built and in testing phase.

I wonder how much this has hurt AM's cost cap. Having to purchase Mercedes gear boxes while R&D for their own.

Williams chose to keep the 2023 old Mercedes gearbox and pull-rod suspension on the 2024 F1 car and they are now faster than Aston. Alonso himself said there is no point in finishing 4th or 7th in 2025, so if the cost cap is reaching its limit they can use the old suspension for 2025 and focus on 2026.

What makes you think that buying the previous year is any cheaper? It might be more expensive...

[diffuser]

Thanks for the video. Interesting theory on the impact of Whitmarsh's management on the way the car was developed, and particularly on the development of the floor, so also on Fallows' work.

Fallows departure could also be part of the plan since the beginning of the adventure. Many people was expecting a major change before 2026 regardless of the performance.

Yeah....I doubt they would have gone after Fallows and fight to pull him away from RBR if they didn't plan on keeping him.

[peewon]

Curious timing for the Fallows dismissal. With Newey and Cardile set to join mid season and focussing on '26, you would think they would have kept him around for another season. Maybe the problems are all down to a correlation issues from the WT. Give him a season with their new WT. Maybe Cardile can join sooner or maybe he is a budget cap casualty.