Szafnauer looks at Aston Martin: 'Why still have your own wind tunnel?'

Aston Martin is already the surprise of the 2023 season. Aston Martin's success in Bahrain is right up against Mercedes' disappointment. Former Aston Martin team boss Otmar Szafnauer sees that sharing the wind tunnel with Mercedes has given the team some advantages.

Indeed, customer team Aston Martin has passed Mercedes. It is a big win for the team of Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso, but a painful disappointment for Mercedes. The fact that Aston Martin is in better shape means that in some cases there is still more to be gained with a much smaller budget.

Why still have its own wind tunnel?

Not only does the team buy the engine and some parts from Mercedes, but pending the construction of its own wind tunnel at the Silverstone factory, Aston also uses Mercedes' wind tunnel. Szafnauer, currently team boss at Alpine but before that working at Aston Martin, says to Motorsport-total.com that sharing the wind tunnel does not appear to be a disadvantage.

"Mercedes' wind tunnel is a very good one. Sharing it is not a disadvantage, otherwise they would not have done it. Therefore, it doesn't make much difference whether you have one yourself or share one." The only thing that does matter then is the cost. The fact that Aston Martin is building its own wind tunnel is not very helpful, according to Szafnauer, as the team could already build a faster car than Mercedes with a shared wind tunnel.