Aston Martin 'not missing anything' with Sebastian Vettel departure

Alonso and Vettel in Abu Dhabi — Photo: © LAT Images

Aston Martin

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Aston Martin 'not missing anything' with Vettel departure

Vettel has been pivotal during the factory upscaling

Ian Parkes

Saturday 17 December 2022 09:30

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Additional reporting by Ewan Gale

Aston Martin technical director Dan Fallows believes pairing Lance Stroll with Fernando Alonso means the team will not miss Sebastian Vettel's experience during a transitionary period.

The Silverstone-based team is eagerly awaiting the completion of its state-of-the-art factory, including an on-site wind tunnel.

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With a five-year goal to compete for race wins and the world championship set out by owner Lawrence Stroll two campaigns ago, the new base should mark a giant stride towards achieving this target.

But whilst there has been upheaval within the team as the factory takes shape, with an influx of staff just part of the upscaling, Vettel's presence had guided Aston Martin towards becoming a front-running team.

This was evidenced by the mid-season turnaround in his final year, where the outfit came from the back to challenge for sixth in the standings.

Speaking to select media, including GPFans, when asked how important Alonso's signing is to maintain momentum, Fallows replied: "It is important to the team that from a technical perspective we have drivers who are able to give good feedback.

"I don't say positive feedback because that's not always the case, but good feedback and is able to describe how they're feeling in the car.

"That is very important for us. We are very fortunate in that Lance is very good in that respect as well.

"I don't think by Seb leaving that we are missing anything particularly."

Aston Martin excited by Alonso-Stroll partnership

Whilst Stroll's form has been up and down throughout his F1 career, the Canadian has ably demonstrated the talent that should allow for marked improvement as Aston Martin climbs the grid.

With two-time champion Alonso joining, Fallows is excited to see the duo perform together.

"We do want to produce a car that is significantly better for next year," said Fallows.

"We want to see that sort of progression, and we need to make sure we have drivers who are able to extract the most out of that.

"As I say, in Lance we have a driver who is able to drive the car, and clearly Fernando has a huge amount of experience and has a proven track record of doing that as well.

"It's a very exciting driver line up I think."