The start of the 2024 F1 season is not what Lawrence Stroll hoped for. Aston Martin is only fifth in the Constructors’ Championship after eight races – they are even closer to VCARB in sixth than Mercedes in 4th. Nothing is going right for the British team, who are once again losing the development war.
ASTON MARTIN’S IMOLA UPGRADES FAIL TO DELIVER
The AMR24 is a car designed with very aggressive solutions. Whilst clearly inspired by Red Bull, it features its own novelties. However, Aston Martin’s 2024 challenger is failing to produce the desired results.
Aston’s Imola upgrades were highly anticipated. The numbers shown in the wind tunnel were very encouraging. However, as was the case last season, the actual improvement on track was very limited. The car became very unstable, on occasions undrivable, and had a much smaller operating window than expected. This was the opposite of what the Silverstone engineers wanted.
In the meantime, the front-runners are all seeing big gains from their upgrades. McLaren and Ferrari are the obvious examples, but Mercedes are also making improvements. Even the Racing Bulls have made good progress with the VCARB 01. The floor update introduced in Miami was worth 2 tenths of a second.
Therefore, it is no surprise to see the Faenza team challenging Aston Martin. Moreover, the top four teams are getting away.
Lawrence Stroll is unhappy with the situation, having expected a lot from the AMR24 in Imola. After the Grand Prix, there was an important and tough meeting with Mike Krack (Team Principal) and Dan Fallows (Technical Director).
ASTON MARTIN HAS MADE AN OFFER TO CARDILE (DT FERRARI) AND CONTINUES TO TALK TO NEWEY
It is undeniable that Dan Fallows is under huge pressure, having been the team’s technical director since 2021. The development at Aston Martin since 2023 has become worrying. This has contributed to Aston’s offer currently on the table to Enrico Cardile, current Ferrari’s Technical Director.
Aston’s interest was first reported by Motorsport IT and has since been confirmed to Formu1a.uno by two high-level sources. This offer was made to Cardile only last week. Only a year ago, the roles were reversed, with praise for Silverstone and much criticism towards Maranello’s technical department. As ever, the sentiment in F1 can change quickly.
Cardile’s impressive work has been overseen by Fred Vasseur, who is widely considered responsible for Ferrari’s upward trend. However, after Sanchez stepped down from the role of Head of Vehicle Concept, Maranello’s technical department has remained the same as in years past.
Nonetheless, Vasseur has renewed his trust in Cardile and his most trusted colleagues. Vassuer recently formalised Cardile’s status as technical director. As Formu1a.uno has learned, the Italian engineer’s contract is not expiring.
Because of this, at least to date, the chances of Cardile joining Aston Martin are very low. Still, this is a situation worth monitoring. Much will depend on Cardile’s willingness to leave Maranello. Only last year, Ferrari made several advances on Red Bull technical director Pierre Wache. This triggered successive contract extensions for the French engineer at Red Bull.
However, there is more. Lawrence Stroll has not given up on the Newey dream. Since their first contract in Saudi Arabia, Aston’s attempts to convince Newey have not disappeared. On the contrary, their efforts have intensified to acquire his services after he leaves Red Bull in 2025.
Adrian Newey, who has received an offer from Fred Vasseur, has not signed anything concrete. Newey is also listening to other teams, including Williams.
Ferrari, with Hamilton and Leclerc, remains in pole position to sign Newey. The British engineer has always wanted to work for the Scuderia. However, Aston Martin is still in the mix.
Still, it must be remembered that Cardile was not so sought after when Ferrari struggled at the start of 2023. Dan Fallows’ current issues might be due more to limitations in infrastructurethan anything else.
Aston Martin has been on the hunt for men and results for some time. However, these aggressive moves, while showing ambition, also trigger a worrying instability that technicians generally don’t like.
