“For those who don’t believe in Aston Martin, I would say…”

December 14th at the Informe + de presentation Alex Paloutitled 500 Miles by Alex Palou (available on the Movistar+ platform), Pedro de la Rosa now accompanies the Catalan pilot on stage.He was already doing it as the team’s newly appointed new ambassador aston martin f1a few weeks after going to abu dhabi Live the first few kilometers in first person Fernando Alonso Get behind the wheel of last season’s green car at the test Pirelli What he did Pedro detailed to the MD about his pre-launch feelings for the project, which he defined as “exciting,” but that “it’s important to understand that it takes time” to grow. emphasized.

aston martin It’s the beginning of a great project to build a champion team, like Mercedes and Red Bull were doing at the time.Them Milton Keynes They entered F1 in 2005 after buying Jaguar and didn’t win their first title until 2010, five years later. Sebastian Vettel, the first of his four consecutive titles. and in fact, red bull The dominant team, one of the biggest in F1.Another example is mercedes. Starred Braun GP In 2010 (under the old Honda system), he won the title in his fifth year without entering a dominance period until 2014. Currently it is one of the biggest groups in current F1. Starting from its base and considering its owner’s multi-million dollar resources, Lawrence Strollthe question is clear: Why couldn’t Aston Martin replicate the success of Mercedes and Red Bull?

“There are people who don’t believe in Aston Martin because they say that Aston Martin is still the former Force India or that it’s the same as Jordan. What do you say to those people?” MD Pedro De La I asked Rosa. Catalan was clear.

“I would like to invite all these people to the Silverstone circuit. If you turn right as you are about to enter the circuit, you can see the whole new Aston Martin factory, which is impressive.” When I went there in December, I arrived at night, but it was lit up and people were working at night… I was impressed. So people who say things like that to me… tell me, “What is this?” I tell them I shouldn’t talk too much. seeing is believingthat a lot of people go when they go to the British Grand Prix, The best thing is for them to see it with their own eyes.”he expressed.

“I would like to invite all these people to the Silverstone circuit to see the entire new Aston Martin factory. The pictures are worth a thousand words. Impressive.”

Pedro de la Rosa

A new factory, a wind tunnel, and a new heart

Aston Martin is a structure that was formerly Racing Point, ex-Force India or ex-Jordan Team. In fact, the current factory where the Green Team works was Jordan’s first in 1991, and some of his employees work in temporary facilities right next door. He doesn’t even have his own wind tunnel and has to use the wind tunnel of Mercedes (his biker) in Brackley to build his own car. All this changes. Lawrence Stroll wants to build a top team and for that reason construction of a huge factory and a new own wind tunnel is already underway right next to the current one. Much larger factories are being built designed to improve communication between all departments and increase productivity. Set up a design department in an open-plan office.

The new headquarters has three adjoining buildings with a total extension of 37,000 square meters. Initialization building 1 It has design, manufacturing and marketing departments (completion date: Q1 2023).Initialization building 2 We have a new wind tunnel and hope to start working on the car in 2024. building 3 For the comfort of our employees, we plan to retrofit our current factory to accommodate gyms and facilities. So Aston Martin is building something big. Huge set house.

not only that. Aston Martin has also grown in terms of human capital since the introduction of Stroll, hiring many thoughtful people. Coming from a major F1 team like Red Bull. Dozens of them. A clear example is the hiring of highly respected engineers such as Dan Farrows, former head of aerodynamics at Red Bull, and Eric Blandin, who was in charge of aerodynamics at Mercedes. For example, when Aston Martin introduced his design of sidepods similar to Red Bull last year, Energy Drink his team adviser Helmut Marko recalled a big engineering leak of his that occurred at Aston Martin.

The ingredients to have the highest level group are on the table, but it will take a lot of time before everyone has a recipe ready that can aim for the goal they have in mind.Pedro de la Rosa told MD about it.

“We have to give Alonso time.

“Aston Martin’s idea is to build a very strong team, but it will take time and it is also our role for people to understand that time will be our main ‘handicap’. I think. We are racing against time at the level of manufacturing working structures such as factories, wind tunnels and simulators. I need time. That’s our main limiter or main competitor. When will this structure be fully operational to produce the best cars? The team is working day and night for this. And when I say night, it’s literally,’ said the former F1 driver.

When will this structure be fully operational to produce the best cars? The team is working day and night for this. And when I say night, I mean it literally.”

Pedro de la Rosa

In this sense, with Fernando Alonso at 41 and the will to remain at the top level for at least “a couple of more years”, Aston Martin is going against the clock and Oviedo is the car it needs to fight for the title again. is. “Will the Aston Martin be in time for Fernando to get the winning car?” we asked Pedro. “We have to give him time. I know there is a company and a mountain so high you have to climb.”

“We have to give Alonso time. We are all in the same boat and it is very exciting.”

Pedro de la Rosa

“Aston Martin is getting stronger, the team is growing, but it’s all based on a lot of common sense. We have a great team.”he added.

“I think we all have goals we don’t want to say, but we are all here for a reason. We are here personally. Fernando Alonso Because nothing excites me more than to see the He pointed to Alonso, who he defines as “a tireless uncle.” “We cannot betray him”. About Asturias Pedro affirms that he has seen Fernando “more motivated than ever.”

“We are all here for a reason. Personally, I am here because nothing excites me more than seeing Fernando Alonso win again.”

Pedro de la Rosa

Possibility of regulation and close proximity

To understand the options Aston Martin needs to recover against the larger teams, the current regulations have been written so that the team can match its performance over time. It is important to note that

“There is something very important going on in F1. There is a budget limit that makes all teams equal (everybody can spend the same money). And there is another fundamental and revolutionary problem. Depending on your placement in the previous year’s Constructors’ World Championship And this is no small matter In the development of a car the use of wind tunnels is economically and temporally limited The result is Also seen in the year of the car design converges as everyone learns from the first year and cars become more and more similar. But to understand that the best teams are the best teams As a result, there will be less wind tunnel time, and those who are behind in the constructors will have to take advantage of it,” recalls de la Rosa.

Seventh-placed Aston Martin in the 2022 Manufacturers’ Championship will have significantly more wind tunnel hours and CFD simulations than the best teams in 2022. He will also have slightly more time than his midfield rivals such as Alpine in fourth place and his fifth-placed McLaren. This, combined with the maintenance of the current regulations, which are in many ways more restrictive than previous rulebooks, suggests that teams will need to balance power over the years. is Aston Martin’s commitment.