Aston Martin secrets that could make Alonso’s dreams come true: MD enters new headquarters

“Those who don’t believe in Aston Martin I would invite them to the Silverstone Circuit. Only when you enter the circuit, turn right, and you will see the whole new Aston Martin factory. Impressive. I prefer to talk less. A picture is worth a thousand words. When they go to the Grand Prix of Britain, that many people will go, the best thing is that they see it with their eyes”. This is what it said Pedro de la Rosaambassador of Aston Martin, in December 2022 in this newspaper, more than three months after the green car surprised everyone as a podium single-seater in the early part of the 2023 course, with a stellar Alonso. And today, at the British F1 GP, MD listened to the Catalan and went inside the main building of the new headquarters with a group of international newspapers. He is right. Impressive. A lot.

Pillar of a large project

Aston Martin, with the billionaire Lawrence Take a Walk in the head, lives an exciting path that began last year. Since then, they have set themselves the clear goal of becoming a major F1 team. like Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes with a 5-year winning plan. To do this, they have a modest team base but know how to perfectly squeeze their resources to do wonders, as is the case with Career Point. In other words, the team and headquarters are the former Force India team, or former Jordan, with an old, small factory with many shortcomings, created in the early 90s.

With a headquarters base and team structure, It was walking clear that to win he needed above all people, human talent, and for this he signed engineers from some of the best teams, especially Dan Fallows., technical director and great ideologue of the green car that yesterday smiled and welcomed everyone in the central aisle of Building 1 of the new Aston Martin Campus. He also signed the double champion Fernando Alonso as the leader on the track. And two more things are missing: the highest performance in their manufacturing processes and efficiency in creating the cars of the future. For this he needs a factory at the forefront of technology. And that gem is real.

millionaire investment

Aston Martin invested more than 2.5 million Pounds in it. “It’s incredible,” said some of the firm’s representatives present yesterday, still in disbelief at the new house they had, before we agreed. From the outside, the change at first glance is impressive. To see it you have to go far, place yourself in the middle of the helipad which is in a parking lot. On the right you will see a small old green building. That’s the old factory. It is completely hidden by the new headquarters, located on your left. The comparison is huge and says a lot about the scale of what Aston Martin is doing, with a new 37,000 square meter factory, split into three buildings.

The most surprising thing… everything is designed for efficiency

We entered the main building (building 1). We were greeted by an Aston Martin F1 car. On the left, Alonso’s last podium finish in Canada. On the right, a showcase with other recent drawers. We entered another room. An impressive road car of the brand shines in front of another showcase with trophies from previous years won by teams such as Force India. Back then Aston Martin staff were in charge of labeling the press phones’ cameras so they wouldn’t show anything. What they will show is completely exclusive. They first showed off their new temple just weeks after their employees began moving into the new building.

Walking through the door, it quickly becomes clear that the employees are hallucinating what they saw the day they moved into their new office. A factory designed 100% to optimize processes using the most advanced technology, large spaces and top-level machinery. The team has made a miracle this year to create a car that can compete with the best, with a factory that many say is like an F2 team. Hence the “miracle”. Aston Martin challenged the giants with a cardboard sword, with tools light years away.

What can Aston Martin do then in the coming courses when the whole manufacturing process of parts is like silk and has the highest technology? First, you will save time and money. Now, most of the parts he makes are outsourced because he doesn’t have a good factory to make them. In this new headquarters, they will do everything in house. Starting in 2026, along with the exclusive Honda engines, they will also make their own gearbox and rear suspension, elements that they now buy from Mercedes as their engine customer. And throughout 2024, Aston will have its own wind tunnel and stop leasing Mercedes in Brackley, another key element for its growth.

Design with two different floors

This idea of ​​maximum efficiency and quality is reflected in the design of building 1. Its shape is elongated and it has two floors. The low, manufacturing. Upstairs, a large open-plan room will allow design, production and other departments to have direct and continuous communication, quickly, without physical barriers. In the lower part, the space is divided as in a time line. In the order of the processes, from left to right, you will see large rooms such as the autoclave, carbon fiber, and assembly rooms, and finally on the right, the workshop bay, with 4 spaces for cars. In it, another room is noticeable where many people are working on a new design concept, with ideas of the 2024 car.

In total, 400 meters of walkable length without walls or traps, so you can go from one department to another without problems, with rooms on one side and on the other side of the corridor, full of heavy machinery that with the latest technology. That central corridor is also notable because it is narrower than the rest of the space. It was done on purpose. Aston Martin is not looking for a factory that is beautiful (which it is too), but its only priority is functionality. That’s why they took the meters away from the central corridor to potentially the rooms on one side and the other.

two other buildings

At the end of the corridor, you can access the old factory, a small building that will be modernized to improve the quality of life of the employees, with a gym and areas for eating or holding events.

On the left is Building 2, still under construction, where the jewel in the crown is located: the new wind tunnel, where they hope to start working on their cars in 2024. And here we have to add the top level. simulator here (although the current simulator is considered very good by all).

The team’s ambition is huge. This is completely understandable when you see the interior of this masterpiece. A key piece for Aston Martin to gain the final momentum. Mike Krack, Aston Martin Team Principal, couldn’t stop smiling. What he said would be “the best factory in the world” is already underway. And Fernando Alonso was there on Monday before the British GP, directly after Canada. The Spaniard surprised the employees with a few words full of energy and enthusiasm between the new walls of his headquarters, which is the dream factory of Alonso and Aston Martin.