Aston Martin Formula 1 Technical Director Dan Fallows believes it’s “absolutely possible” for the team to repeat the exploits last winter that led to a seismic performance leap.
After successive placings of seventh since morphing into Aston Martin, the Silverstone-based squad amassed 225 more points last year than it did in 2022 to rise to fifth place.
Aston Martin had capitalised on the decision to develop the downwash sidepod solution on the AMR23, ensuring the team began the campaign as Red Bull’s closest contender.
Fernando Alonso, who had arrived the previous year from Alpine, scored six podiums in eight races, including second-place finishes in both Monaco and Canada.
But unintended “side effects” from upgrades saw the British marque be outdeveloped by Ferrari and Mercedes, while McLaren’s resurgence then demoted the side further.
However, having overcome its troubles towards the end of the season, Fallows is not discounting the possibility of Aston Martin springing another surprise in 2024.
When asked whether it was realistic to expect Aston Martin to replicate last year’s remarkable progress, Fallows told the New York Times: “It’s absolutely possible.
“We’ve seen with what we did at the beginning of the season that there are still opportunities to make a big step forward.
“But it’s a relative game. It depends on what other people are doing.
“For us, the most important thing is that we’re making that big step forward. We have our internal targets. We have things that we want to achieve, and as long as we achieve that, then we’ll be happy.
“Where that sits us on the grid will play out according to what our competitors do.”
Aston Martin Team Principal Mike Krack, however, cautions that addressing those weaknesses must not come at the expense of minimising the strengths of last year’s car.
“The normal process year on year is you always look at your weaknesses and your strengths,” Krack assessed.
“And it’s about, you know, it’s about eliminating the weaknesses and not making the strengths bad. This is something that we are working on.
“We are not focusing only on speed. You have to always look at the complete lap, you have a little bit of the tyres, you know, how you manage them and all that.
“But it’s certainly something that we are looking at.”
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