Whose wind tunnel does Aston Martin use? Silverstone-based team hoping to use own setup for 2025 F1 car

Aston Martin is hoping to use its own wind tunnel to develop its future cars, aiming to do so by 2025. Ever since the team formerly known as Force India was taken over by Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll, it has undergone a major revamp in terms of facilities and infrastructure. Significant investment has been fed into the team as it aims to be a frontrunner by the 2026 F1 season.

Aston Martin currently uses the Mercedes wind tunnel in Brackley but expects to have its own ready by 2024. The team will move into a revamped facility next season, but according to its technical director Dan Fallows, there is still time for the wind tunnel to be ready. Speaking to Motorsport, he said:

“The target for the wind tunnel is to be online in the middle of 2024. We’re hoping that will have at least some contribution to the ’25. I think depending on how the commissioning and things of the tunnel goes, that will be probably the first car that will have a significant impact with the new tunnel. In terms of the factory itself, that’s coming online next year with various stages, so we’re hoping that the cars prior to that will see the benefit of the new factory as well.”

One of the biggest obstacles in moving to a wind tunnel is the correlation issues that could prove to be detrimental to what Aston Martin wants to achieve. According to Fallows, the switch will take time, and only when it is fully correlated will the Silverstone-based outfit move to the new facility. He said:

“Inevitably when you build a wind tunnel you have to go through a commissioning process. And that’s really just to determine that it’s going to give you the numbers you expect to see. We’re fortunate enough to be testing in the Mercedes wind tunnel, which is a very high-quality facility, so we need to make sure our new facility is giving results which are consistent with those. And that does take a certain amount of time. But there are things we can do to speed up that process. Obviously, the target is to get in there as soon as we can.”

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The strategic importance of a new wind tunnel is massive for Aston Martin

Speaking about the strategic advantages of a new wind tunnel, Dan Fallows explained how a new wind tunnel could be a game-changer. The Aston Martin technical director knows a thing or two about wind tunnels, having served in the frontrunning team Red Bull before moving to Silverstone earlier this year. He said:

“There’s no doubt that it will be a world-class facility, and having access to that 24/7 if required is obviously very important. As we improve and our wind tunnel runs availability that we have from the Aerodynamic Testing Restrictions goes down, clearly we wouldn’t be spending as much time in the tunnel, but having your own facility means you can do other experiments as well, which is invaluable, and something we don’t necessarily have the luxury of doing at the moment sharing the tunnel with another team.”

Aston Martin is a team aiming to be a frontrunner one day, so a growth trajectory from the team should be expected very soon.