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Expect to see new sponsors as Aston Martin is as British as James Bond so new sponsors will be expected. No expense is being spared setting up the team as a budget will only affect the running of the team. Buying all the toys now will have no impact on budgetary constraints come next year. Thinking about it the new owners of Williams should have done this before buying the team unless a name change is on the cards.
Racing Point Formula One is becoming Aston Martin Racing from next season and stuff is happening behind the scenes. Stuff is good as it means a whole host of things that many of the big teams cannot afford to spend on anymore as they are already sweating being over budget. With new investment comes the opportunity to improve as it allows for things that were once out of reach.
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New state of the art facility situated on 32 acres will be something worth waiting for. No wonder Vettel was keen to keep things quiet about moving there.
Firstly a new factory is due in 2022 which is a requirement by all Formula One teams. Certain parts were and still are available to be bought and sold between teams, but for the most part you need to be a constructor. This is what makes the huge difference between Indy Car and Formula One. This proves hands down developing and building your own car out performs teams that are supplied standard chassis and engines. It may mean closer racing, but the technology doesn't move like it should and remains stagnant.
Over the last year and a half the team has grown by over 25 percent and they haven't finished yet either. It is not surprising the teams performance has been on the rise this year besides the copied brake ducts sold to them by Mercedes. Those I am sure have helped but there is more to it than just that.
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This makes sense why they went the CFD route as this is crazy. Basically they can make changes to the car and test them without a wind tunnel yet it provides the same info. I doubt whether anyone besides Mercedes has this and maybe they don't. This is a serious piece of equipment making a wind tunnel null and void.
A new simulator has been ordered and knowing how close they are to Mercedes expect something similar or exact. It is not just the simulator though as the software is the key to everything these days. The team has just increased their engineering capabilities by adding a CFD cluster (Computational fluid dynamics). This apparently works and calculates stress design in modelling engineering. Racing teams are being limited on the amount of time being allowed in wind tunnels so this smart piece of equipment by passes everything. Imagine designing something and testing it immediately getting the data instantly as though it had been in a wind tunnel. This is what a CFD is and why it is a game changer for Aston Martin. Anything aero they will know long before any of their competitors and should be a leading force in design.
When the bigger teams are looking at budgets and having to cut back it helps if a team has room to grow as they have the unique opportunity of getting things right. Being able to buy the latest in high tech when other teams are looking at what staff members have to go in order to meet budget. I believe whatever Aston Martin spend this season before next season doesn't get included in the budget as that is not a running cost, but a start up cost.
I would much rather be in Aston Martins position than Ferrari. Firstly the Italians have a lemon of a car right now and are way over budget. They honestly are going to struggle to fix this and possibly should have started from scratch as having a big team will actually hinder you. Finding and fixing the problem will take far longer than a small dedicated team.
Sebastien Vettel arrives at the end of this season as he won't be just starting next season as he has the end of year break to jump right into this new project. His work ethic plus his hands on knowledge and experience you cannot just buy and is key to them moving forward. Ferrari I feel should have used Vettel to help them fix this problem and believe it was Binotto's ego that hindered this. Binotto is the team principal and technical director so it would be rather awkward as Vettel must have been asking difficult questions about his ability.
Aston Martin on the other hand can't wait for him to arrive as they know the input he will be adding could easily transform them up the grid within a short period of time. Just think what Schumacher did for Mercedes as that took just two years before the car was ready and has been winning ever since. You do something right once and add to the basics, but you don't fiddle like Ferrari have done. They have gone backwards over the last 5 years causing so much damage that starting a fresh should be obvious. Even the engine is not right and soon the likes of Sauber and Haas will want to change to a Mercedes power unit.
We know Mercedes and Red Bull have the perfect balance and will be fighting for number 1 and 2 which is why I say Aston Martin will become part of the new big 3 over the coming years and will mount a title challenge at some point.