Dan Fallows will officially join Aston Martin on 2 April 2022, following a legal battle over his services as he remained under contract at Red Bull. Fallows - Red Bull's former Head of Aerodynamics, having been with the team since 2006 - was announced in June 2021 as joining Aston Martin in the role of Technical Director. However, Red Bull indicated that they would not be letting him depart without serving an enforced period of notice. As a result, the matter ended up going before courts in the United Kingdom recently , with the initial ruling made in Red Bull's favour. Court action was due to resume in late January, but a joint statement from Aston Martin and Red Bull on Tuesday evening confirmed that a deal has been reached and Fallows will be making the move shortly after the 2022 F1 season begins. Until 2 April, he remains a Red Bull Technology employee. Aston Martin Group CEO Martin Whitmarsh said: "We are pleased to have reached an agreement with Red Bull which releases Dan early from his contract and are looking forward to him joining the team." Red Bull team boss Christian Horner added: "We would like to thank Dan for his many years of excellent service and wish him well for the future." Fallows himself said that he has enjoyed "many happy years" at Red Bull, is "proud" of what has been achieved and is now looking forward to a new challenge at Aston Martin.
Fallows' delayed switch from Red Bull to Aston Martin
Fallows received an offer from Aston Martin for 2022 and accepted it, with an indicated desired start date of 1 January. However, according to Red Bull, his contract stated that he had to serve a six-month notice period, which can only be triggered on 31 December 2022 at the earliest. This would have meant Fallows being unable to join another team until 1 July 2023. As a result, Fallows' announcement as Aston Martin Technical Director appeared to be a breach of his contract and, with work on the 2022 car underway, Red Bull were eager to keep the information he has gleaned working with Adrian Newey's technical departments from escaping to Aston Martin. However, matters have since been resolved after discussions between the two teams and Fallows is now clear to join Aston Martin. His arrival will come after the first two rounds of the season – a back-to-back sequence in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
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