Do you recall how Red Bull poached Adrian Newey from McLaren? Some believe this poaching and Ron Dennis’ retirement were the starts of McLaren’s downfall. Aston Martin, formerly known as the pink Mercedes is known to be great at copying. Learning from Red Bull, they poached Dan Fallows and other engineers in 2022 and are now gearing up to partner with a $48,000,000,000 worth company that also happens to be Red Bull’s ex-partner.
Fernando Alonso and Co. had a meteoric rise in 2023 after the previous two seasons were labeled as a failure. Lawrence Stroll’s huge investment into the team and the aggressive recruitment have led the team toward the front of the field as they look forward to challenging the Red Bulls. Stroll’s 5-year plan seems to be taking shape as the new factory and state-of-the-art wind tunnel are about to come online soon. However, with Aston Martin buying the powertrain and most of the rear-end parts from Mercedes, the spectrum of development remains somewhat limited.
🚨 | Honda and Aston Martin have reached an agreement for 2026 – Honda will supply Aston's engines from the start of the next regulations.
An official announcement is imminent.https://t.co/hbOqh5W5wW
— formularacers (@formularacers_) May 23, 2023
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One can only imagine how the team would do once they have their independent engine supplier. Lawrence Stroll’s vision of winning the title requires the team to have an independent engine supplier and not be dependent on another team for it. As a result, after poaching Red Bull’s Head of Aerodynamics, Dan Fallows, and other engineers, Aston Martin looks set to partner with their former partner.
Rumors of Aston Martin partnering with Honda as a work team have been going around the paddock for a while. After poaching Red Bull’s engineers and design philosophy, the Silverstone-based team looks to stun the Milton Keynes base once again. Red Bull’s partnership with Ford commences in 2026. A Tweet by @formularacers_ suggests that Aston Martin has signed a deal with Honda with the official announcement imminent.
Despite the amazing news, Aston Martin has not shifted their focus from the 2023 season. As Aston Martin gets ready to shift into the new factory with the final stages of setting it up being approached, Tom McCullough talks about the effect it’ll have on the team.
Aston Martin Performance Director on the impact of the new factory.
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Aston Martin’s current operations are a bit disjointed. They use Mercedes’ wind tunnel while their factory is not a single building with the people from the same department sitting in separate buildings. The new factory will help unify the operation and smooth out the process. Better communication will lead to efficiency, resulting in faster and better results. Even having the wind tunnel near the factory would help massively.
According to Motorsport.com, Tom McCullough said, “We’re really looking forward to that because we’re all a bit disjointed at the moment in Portakabins, separate buildings. All the technical people aren’t sitting next to each other. it’s a fantastic building. You just smile as you walk around it. It’s going to make a bigger difference than people even realize. Just communication. Bumping into people at the same coffee station, at the same toilets, you just rub shoulders with the people that you’re working closely with.”
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Watch this story: Will Fernando Alonso & Aston Martin Be a Top F1 Championship Contender Soon?
What do you think about Aston Martin signing with Honda? Will Lawrence Stroll’s vision come to life?