Aston Martin technical director labels 2024 F1 challenger as “evolution of last year’s car”

Aston Martin technical director Dan Fallows suggests that the AMR24 is an evolution of its 2023 predecessor. The British aerodynamicist reckons that there are new elements and improvements that have been made to their 2024 F1 car.

Aston Martin launched their 2024 F1 challenger at Silverstone and also put their first bit of mileage on the car with some shakedown laps. The car has a lot of differences from its predecessor, such as both suspensions, the floor, front wing and even the body work. In 2023 their car was suited to circuits with specific characteristics, which Fallows believes was one of the areas they worked on. He claims they have tried to make the car more versatile to suit all kinds of tracks on the calendar.

Speaking in a team release of the Aston Martin AMR24, Fallows said:

“Even with the stable regulations, there are endless possibilities for refinement. I would call the AMR24 a strong evolution of last year’s car and it does look quite different with many new parts to give us a strong platform for development. The chassis design is new, as well as the nose, front wing, front suspension and rear suspension. We want to compete in the development race this season and this car is designed to do just that.”

“Another area of focus has been to broaden the car’s operating window. We have focused on more versatility for a wider range of specific circuit characteristics. We want a race car that is more of an all-rounder. We believe the AMR24 provides the ideal platform for in-season development and a sustained season-long challenge.”

“The floor is the biggest area of downforce generation on an F1 car and it’s constantly being evolved. Getting it right will be of paramount importance to our success in 2024. Work has been done on both ends of the car’s suspension. The front will work more efficiently alongside the front wing, and aero work has been done at the rear to optimise our layout in that area.”

While there are many elements in the AMR24 that are similar to its predecessor, the AMR23, it still has a few differences. One of the key differences is the addition of detail into most of its bodywork. Aston Martin started strong in the 2023 season but their performance trailed off after the Canadian GP. Unable to recover, the Silverstone squad failed to provide an explanation for the drop in performance. One of the key areas to starting the 2024 season on a better note will be to improvise their weaknesses from last year that dropped them down the pecking order.

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Aston Martin director believes making a versatile car is key to competing with Red Bull

Aston Martin technical director Dan Fallows believes that building a car to suit every track will help them take the fight to Red Bull. A strength of the RB19 was its versatility to suit every circuit apart from Singapore, where it trailed in performance. On the other hand, the AMR23 only suited some circuits.

Speaking in pre-launch interviews ahead of the Aston Martin AMR24 launch, Fallows said:

“We talk about Red Bull because obviously they are the benchmark in terms of performance. But really for us, whoever’s the fastest car is the focus and that’s what we’re looking at. Rather than thinking about individual races, from an engineering point of view we have to make a car that is capable of operating at any circuit and being competitive, and that’s really what we’re focused on: making a car that’s usable, that’s good for the drivers.”

“That’s what we’ve really been trying to focus on. And those competitive stats and how we get closer to Red Bull will come after that. If we put our performance on the car then we give ourselves the ability to compete at that level, which is exactly what we want.”

Aston Martin started the 2023 season in second place in the constructor’s championship and eventually finished fifth. Unlike rivals McLaren who had a turnaround in performance post-summer break, the Silverstone team struggled to maintain consistency. Despite launching an impressively detailed and improvised AMR24, the real potential of the car can only be determined once it hits ground running in Bahrain. Given the ground-effect technology in modern F1 cars, their true potential can only be determined once they are at the preseason test.