Who is Dan Fallows?
Born in 1973, Dan Fallows started his Formula 1 career at the age of 29 as an aerodynamic technician for the Jaguar Racing project. When Ford withdrew from the top category of motorsport, he moved to work at Dallara before returning to the sport in 2006 with Red Bull Racing. For fifteen years at Milton Keynes, he led the aerodynamics department and became its head in 2014.
Considered by many as a loyal supporter of Adrian Newey, he has been working at Aston Martin since April 2022, where he has taken on the role of Technical Director. Many believe that his contribution is behind the great recovery of the British team in 2023 – currently ranked second in the constructors’ standings ahead of the Miami Grand Prix.
The Dan Fallows case
The move from Red Bull to Aston Martin was anything but simple and friendly. In June 2021, Lawrence Stroll’s team officially announced Dan Fallows’ arrival, prompting a quick reaction from rivals Christian Horner’s team, who initiated a legal dispute that kept the engineer in another role in the company until April 2022, the date of the final clearance to join Aston Martin.
But Fallows is no stranger to changing sides, as he was already tempted by a significant offer from McLaren in 2014, which was eager to strengthen its technical organizational structure. According to Ron Dennis – then head of the historic English team – the engineer had signed a binding contract with Woking, only to backtrack and decide at the last minute to stay at Red Bull in exchange for the promotion to aerodynamics head, replacing Peter Prodromou, who moved to McLaren.
Mattia Binotto’s offer
According to what was revealed by Leo Turrini, a well-informed Italian journalist on what is happening within the Ferrari Formula 1 team, in 2021 Dan Fallows was close to accepting an offer from Maranello:
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“In 2021, poor Mattia Binotto was convinced he could bring Dan Fallows to Maranello, luring him away from Red Bull. The deal fell through at the last minute, perhaps because Aston Martin offered more. Now the music has changed.” The Italian journalist is referring to Scuderia Ferrari’s current recruitment campaign, with Enrico Balbo “returning to Italy” and the confirmation that “Ferrari will shop among the Red Bull shelves, from where two other professionals will come and be operational only in 2024.”
Finally, Leo Turrini does not exclude other departures, after those of David Sanchez and Laurent Mekies, and in fact confirms that “others will leave.”
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