The Aston Martin team is excited about the use of their new wind tunnel in Silverstone. As the British racing stable needs to drastically improve the disappointing AMR25, this new facility offers a solution. The wind tunnel, located at Aston Martin’s home base in Silverstone, became operational in mid-March. Its construction is part of the extensive infrastructure projects with which the team – under the leadership of Lawrence Stroll – has rapidly strengthened itself.
Until recently, Aston Martin used the wind tunnel of Mercedes in Brackley, but now has its own facility, built according to the latest Formula 1 standards. The tunnel is already being intensively used for the improvement of the AMR25, as well as for the development of the car for 2026. Team boss Andy Cowell told F1.com that the team is already benefiting from their own wind tunnel, although it can also be a challenge to optimize an existing car in a new environment.
“We have recently switched to this wind tunnel,” said the British team boss of Aston Martin. “We are now putting the finishing touches on parts that will soon be seen on the circuit. People sometimes talk about reading time on two watches – how can you make statements about aerodynamics when the development work takes place in one wind tunnel, and you then switch to another? Of course, they will never give exactly the same results, but we are very happy with this new acquisition.”
Striving for Improvement
“Some aspects have truly opened our eyes,” Cowell continued. “We then have to work on these. A new testing facility that provides a clearer and more representative picture also means more development work in the aerodynamic field. We have to adjust shapes, manufacture parts. Then we have to produce these components at full scale and bring them to the track – a fairly complex undertaking. Aston Martin is now in the middle of this process; we are enjoying our new wind tunnel and look forward to building a faster race car with it.”
“We are not satisfied with the current performance,” Cowell admitted. The team did not score any points in the recent triple header and is in a mediocre seventh place in the championship. “We would like to go faster and score points with every team,” he continued. “The team is very ambitious, but it’s a complex sport. It’s a huge challenge to get everything under control. That being said, we are a relatively young team. We are learning to understand and use our tools – not just to survive, but to succeed.”
