Aston Martin unhappy with ‘not beneficial’ and ‘most complicated’ regulations in F1 history

Dan Fallows perceives the new regulations to be too restrictive for his liking.

Aston Martin unhappy with ‘not beneficial’ and ‘most complicated’ regulations in F1 history

Fernando Alonso driving the Aston Martin AMR23 during the Australian GP

Formula 1 introduced new groundbreaking regulations in 2022 to enhance racing. The sport ensured that these rules would allow for a more level playing field, going hand-in-hand with the F1 budget cap. However, many have argued that the regulations might be too restrictive in terms of the spirit of the sport as it limits teams racing at the pinnacle of motorsport. Aston Martin Technical Director Dan Fallows expressed his discontentment with the same.

Fallows understood that the rules were set with the right mindset after a lot of research on the sport. However, the 49-year-old believed these regulations make the sport far too complicated as it covers every aspect of the cars. He said, “But we now have a set of regulations that are by far the most complicated in the history of F1 in terms of the length of the regulations. Both sporting and technical regulations.”

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Dan was convinced that this, in turn, would make it troublesome for the FIA to regulate the development on the grid. He continued, “by far the most complicated to actually police. So the FIA’s job is exponentially harder than it has been over the last few years.” The Aston Martin Technical Director didn’t think this would help the sport. Fallows said, “And I just don’t think that’s really been beneficial”

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Dan Fallows discusses how the regulations influenced car design

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Dan’s former team, Red Bull, continues to set the benchmark

Fallows acknowledged that F1 put in much effort to ensure better racing via these rules. However, the 49-year-old mentioned the teams are being forced to design the car in a certain manner as we have seen a convergence in designs following the Adrian Newey-designed Red Bull RB-19. Dan Fallows said, “I think we have certainly, as I say, with the best intentions, tried to introduce regulations to improve the show. But what we’ve effectively ended up with is a set of regulations that make you design the car a certain way.”

The Aston Martin Technical Chief expressed his views of having different car designs on the grid instead of the grid going forward with the car dominating races with Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez. However, the 49-year-old acknowledged this to be his personal preference. Dan Fallows said, “I would far rather, personally, see different cars that have wacky shapes all over them and new, innovative ideas. But I accept that maybe that’s just me.”

Thus, Dan Fallows is not pleased with the current F1 rules. The ground effect regulations were brought in to bunch up the field in an effort to get closer to racing. Unfortunately, this has resulted in cars adopting a similar design approach to the all-conquering Red Bull. However, as it stands, fans would not complain over the designs if the main intention of better racing is fulfilled in the time to come.

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