New Aston Martin CEO Andy Cowell has defended the team’s intricate engineering structure following the departure of technical director Dan Fallows from his role.
Fallows, who joined the team in 2022 as technical director, will now transition to a different position within Aston Martin’s ‘matrix’-style technical leadership framework.
The announcement came this week, signaling a reshuffling within the team’s organizational structure.
Over recent years, Aston Martin has brought in several prominent technical experts from rival teams, including Adrian Newey from Red Bull, Enrico Cardile from Ferrari, and Eric Blandin from Mercedes.
This influx of high-profile talent has raised questions about how these figures would integrate into the existing setup, which also includes Fallows and engineering chief Tom McCullough.
Andy Cowell, previously known for his work as an engine guru at Mercedes, recently took over as Aston Martin’s CEO, succeeding Martin Whitmarsh.
Prior to the announcement of Fallows stepping down as technical director, Cowell addressed concerns about the team’s strategy, emphasizing the advantages of their approach.
“I remember Mercedes Grand Prix pulling together a gaggle of impressive technical directors and it working out okay on that run into 2014,” Cowell told select media.
“We are quite a young organisation and going all the way back to the Jordan days it is a couple of decades [old], but the change to being a team that is targeting being at the front and operating with that level of facilities and resources is only recent.
“Whether it is setting up our own wind tunnel and all the facilities that are required to do that, whether it is making a new gearbox to go on the back of the Honda power unit for 2026 or getting the simulation tools to be class-leading, there is a huge amount of work to be done.
“If you’ve got senior leaders that can each take one of those big challenges and focus on it, then we will get to the front quicker.”