Fallows: Aston Martin reminds me of a young Red Bull F1 team

Fallows left his role as head of aerodynamics at Red Bull last year in order to pursue a new challenge with Aston Martin, which has been on a recruitment drive since the team was acquired by Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll.

Stroll has been clear in his aim to turn the team into a front-running squad in five years, and made a statement signing in two-time world champion Fernando Alonso for 2023. The team is also building a new factory at Silverstone as part of a significant investment in its facilities to bring them up to the highest level.

Fallows enjoyed enormous success with Red Bull, playing a role in nine world championship wins, and said he could see some similarities between the early days of that operation and what was being built now at Aston Martin.

"One of the most exciting parts of the Red Bull journey was when the team evolved from Jaguar," said Fallows in an interview on Aston Martin's website.

"A small team with a very limited budget suddenly had significantly more budget, more resource, and more technical strength right at the top of the organisation.

"Watching the team grow, being part of that growth, being part of the success, even making mistakes along the way and learning from them, it was incredibly exciting.

"What's happening at Aston Martin F1 right now feels very similar to what happened at Red Bull then."

Fallows' departure from Red Bull for Aston Martin turned into a legal wrangling between the two teams over his start date, after Red Bull planned to place him on gardening leave until the end of his contract in 2023.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1, Dan Fallows, Red Bull Racing Head of Aerodynamics, race winner Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing and Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing celebrate on the podium

Photo by: Sutton Images

But an agreement was struck to allow Fallows to join Aston Martin in April this year. Fallows admitted he found it "embarrassing" to see his name in the press as he is "not in it for the publicity."

Fallows explained that his decision to leave Red Bull was fuelled by his desire to pursue a new challenge with Aston Martin and be part of the growing team.

"The most rewarding times in my career have been when I'm presented with a challenge, and I've gone on to overcome that challenge," said Fallows.

"It's not just the challenge, though, it's the opportunity to be part of something that goes from being something modest to something spectacular. There's serious ambition at Aston Martin F1 – from Lawrence Stroll at the very top, right the way through the entire team.

"So, to be asked to join the team on its journey, but also given the resources that I have, is incredibly exciting. It's incredibly exciting when someone puts that level of faith in you, when they're essentially saying, 'here's a Formula 1 team, turn it into what you want, get the people you want, run it how you want, make it successful – make your mark.'

"I took on this challenge because I felt that things could be done differently. It's not about doing things the Red Bull way, or the Mercedes way, or the Ferrari way. It's about coming up with a better way – the Aston Martin way."