Lawrence Stroll has never made a secret of his – ambitious – plans for the future of Aston Martin in F1, making important investments both to attract prominent engineers and to guarantee high-level infrastructures, at least in line with those of the other top teams .
In recent years, the British team has started work on a new factory, a new wind tunnel and a new latest generation simulator, in order to put its staff in a position to have all the elements necessary to build a car capable of play consistently for the top positions.
The new headquarters will replace the historic factory born when the team was still under the leadership of Eddie Jordan, more than twenty years ago. A piece of Formula 1 history that disappears to make room for the future of a team that wants to be successful. The new headquarters in Silverstone will be ready shortly, with the relocation of some offices to take place by the end of the month.
Tour della nuova factory Aston Martin a Silverstone
Photo by: Dom Romney / Motorsport Images
Tom McCullough believes the team will benefit significantly from the new facility, as the current multi-site setup is broken down into separate prefabs.
Speaking of the £200million project for the new factory, McCullough explained: “It’s really exciting. We’re in the final stage of deciding who sits at what desks and what we’re going to do, we should start the move these days. We don’t see the ‘now, because at the moment we are all a bit disunited in separate prefabs”.
“All the technicians are not sitting next to each other. It’s a fantastic building. When you walk through it, you smile”.
Tour della nuova factory Aston Martin a Silverstone
Photo by: Dom Romney / Motorsport Images
“It’s going to make a bigger difference than you can imagine, even just to communication. You bump into people at the same coffee station, the same toilets, you connect with people you work closely with. We’re currently in different buildings, even on different sites. It’s going to be really nice.”
In the meantime, the staff has already started the works on the wind tunnel, which, however, will not be ready until next year, realistically beyond mid-season, since alongside the construction it will take some time for the commissioning procedures to be completed. point. A precise choice, mainly due to the fact that it was necessary to divide the work into several phases, giving top priority to the construction of the new headquarters, with larger spaces and cutting-edge equipment.
As the company currently uses the Mercedes wind tunnel in Brackley, McCullough believes the increased flexibility afforded by the future facility, which will be located right next to the factory, will be one of the biggest selling points of the new layout. “It’s definitely better to have it on site. Having your own wind tunnel means being able to use it whenever you want, in compliance with the rules (on restrictions on aerodynamic tests)”.
Rendering of the new Aston Martin factory at Silverstone
Photo by: Aston Martin Racing
“If you have a problem or learn something, you can stop, go back, produce new pieces, think about something, go back and turn it on again. That gives you extra flexibility. You can really operate seven days a week.”
“At the moment, the time available in the tunnel is limited, so you have to be very active and you cannot react quickly. But when you have the wind tunnel in place, if you have any problems, the people drawing the pieces are in the building next to you. This will definitely help communication.”
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