In the last few years, F1 and the FIA have taken some significant steps to level the playing field among teams. The introduction of the budget cap and last year’s ground-effect rules are among those. However, there is another factor that has made a massive impact. Aston Martin has taken the most advantage of it and the results Fernando Alonso has delivered speak for themselves. What regulation is that? And how are they taking advantage of Max Verstappen‘s heroics to use it against him and his team? Aston Martin’s technical director reveals.

Aston Martin finished 7th in the points table last year. The team struggled with the ground-effect regulations and by the end of the year, Sebastian Vettel quit the sport. It is no secret that the Silverstone-based team was in dire straits but the desire to climb back was always there. Bringing in Red Bull’s aerodynamicist Dan Fallows was a step in that direction.

Dan Fallows reveals how Aston Martin used the dominance of Max Verstappen against him

FIA introduced a new concept of proportional wind tunnel time allotment between the teams recently. The higher a team finishes in the table, the lesser time it gets for aerodynamic testing next year. By virtue of winning the championship last year, Red Bull gets the least wind tunnel testing time. Aston Martin, therefore, has a 37% aerodynamic testing advantage over its Austrian rivals.

Talking about its impact, Dan Fallows, as quoted by RaceFans, revealed, “It’s definitely a positive thing for us. After last year we had to catch up with our developments and a lot had to change in our concept, so we have been able to do that with all this time. We recognize that our success comes from having more time than the competition, but it’s also up to our team to really make good use of the time and I can only commend them for that.” [Translated using Google]

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Lawrence Stroll is certainly not holding back on providing for the financial needs of the team. They have a new $240 million worth state-of-the-art facility in the making in Silverstone that will soon complete. It will also have an in-house wind tunnel which will boost their development goals even further.

Team boss lauds Sebastian Vettel for his help and hails Fernando Alonso for his mentality

Every F1 team strives to strike a perfect balance of youth and experience in its driver lineup. While the experienced driver helps the team develop the car with his feedback, the younger driver learns the tricks of the trade to one day take over that position. Sebastian Vettel played that role for Aston Martin for two years. Alonso is doing it now after the German retired at the end of last year.

Highlighting Vettel’s contributions to their 2023, Mike Krack, in a recent interview with Bild revealed, “He is part of the success. Without him, we wouldn’t be where we currently are.”

“We knew we had made a big step forward in the winter, but the fact that we were on the podium four times in the first five races is something I didn’t expect.”

Speaking about Alonso’s mentality which has been key to their success so far, Krack said, “It’s all about motivation. It’s unbroken with Fernando.”

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Do you think Aston Martin can take full advantage of their wind tunnel time to triumph over Max Verstappen and Red Bull? Or is the gap too wide for now at least?