Why Fallows' farewell at Aston Martin was already in the air
General
- Ludo van Denderen
How many captains can you have on the same ship? Aston Martin apparently came to the conclusion that there are now too many bright minds to head the technical departments of the ambitious British team. Dan Fallows has fallen victim to this, with news emerging earlier on Tuesday that the Brit will leave his post as technical director this month.
The departure of Fallows - who will take up another, as yet unknown, position within the Group - is certainly not unexpected. A few months ago, Aston Martin announced that Enrico Cardile was coming over from Ferrari to take up the role of chief technical officer, meaning that Fallows would report directly to the Italian.
Along with that, Aston Martin surprised many on the grid by bringing in Adrian Newey, the former CTO and designer of Red Bull Racing. It will already be interesting to see how Newey will relate to Cardile in his yet-to-be-defined role, let alone the fact that the experienced Fallows would also be high up the chain. Incidentally, Aston Martin has not yet identified a replacement for Fallows. Perhaps Cardile will take on his role as well.
Stroll wants the highest with Aston Martin
Lawrence Stroll, the (co-)owner of the Aston Martin F1 team, has never made a secret of aiming for the highest goals with his team, looking for Grand Prix victories and even championships. Apparently, Fallows was not seen as the man who could bring that next step to the team. The current season did not help his cause either, with a brilliant 2023 season in which Aston Martin seemed a regular on the podium becoming a failed 2024 season, unable to capture a single trophy.
As well as this, in 18 months, Aston Martin were overtaken by McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari, and Alpine are now hot on the heels of the British team, at least in terms of points. Admittedly, 2025 is seen as a transitional year towards 2026, the year when the new regulations take effect and the organisation is up and running in the brand-new factory. However, sinking far into the middle of the pack was not a pleasant prospect for Aston Martin either.
Aston Martin are moving in a new direction, with the absolute best in their business at the helm. And that meant there was no place left for the sympathetic Fallows.
This article was written in collaboration with Olly Darcy
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