Aston Martin have confirmed they have begun using their all-new wind tunnel at their expanded Silverstone base, in a “significant milestone” for the team.

As part of their brand new, state-of-the-art factory, an in-house wind tunnel is now operational for Aston Martin as they get set for the transition to becoming a full works team in partnership with Honda in 2026.

Aston Martin begin ‘extremely beneficial’ in-house wind tunnel work

Aston Martin had been using the wind tunnel with current power unit partners Mercedes up to this point, but begin work on runs on “highly sophisticated” 60% scale car models, which the team say will enable “rapid development and better operational efficiencies”.

The move is well-timed as it comes shortly after the arrival of new managing technical partner Adrian Newey, who has begun work on the team’s 2026 challenger.

Team principal and CEO Andy Cowell described the new wind tunnel as “extremely beneficial” for the team, as they bring another key part of its operations onto one campus.

Speaking to reporters in Melbourne, Cowell explained just how greatly these changes will help Aston Martin in their day-to-day operations.

“It’s been a big project, lots of people working on it, so it’s great to see it’s now our nominated wind tunnel and doing development work,” he said.

“It’s got some great technology in it, great technology in the measurement systems and within the model that goes within the tunnel. Just having everything together in one location, you know, the aerodynamicists don’t need to put a coat on to go to the wind tunnel – they just walk through.

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“Whereas before, it was loading the model into a van and down a bumpy dual carriageway, hoping it was still in the same condition when you took it out the van at the other end.

“So from an efficiency [point of view, ed.], but also that you know the challenge that everybody has of trying to understand what goes on with the aerodynamics on track, compared with a wind tunnel, compared with CFD [computational fluid dynamics], those three worlds that the aerodynamicists battle with, we believe that this new wind tunnel gives us greater understanding, greater mechanisms for understanding the flow physics of the streams going over the car.”

As for Newey, he is already at work on Aston Martin’s 2026 car after officially starting his new role on March 3rd, and Cowell confirmed he has been able to take a look at the new equipment at Aston Martin’s disposal.

“Day one, we went for a wander without needing to put our coats on into the wind tunnel,” Cowell confirmed.

“It was great to see him stood in the section having a look at it, having a look at some of the technology in the model and the measurement equipment.

“But then he was very quickly back into the engineering office, looking at the 2026 regulations and working out what are the compromises to come up with a fast race car, with the new regulations.”

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