Aston Martin is hoping its new technical director Dan Fallows will be able to start work at the Silverstone-based outfit before the start of the 2022 season.
Fallows was poached earlier this year from Red Bull Racing where the talented engineer spent 15 years working alongside design guru Adrian Newey and led the team's aero department.
However, Red Bull has not facilitated Fallows' release and Aston Martin is still negotiating its future technical director's start date.
"Our aim is to get him to start ASAP and sometime in the first quarter of next year," said Szafnauer.
"So if it’s the start of next season, that is in the first quarter of next year. Hopefully in that time frame, we will be able to have him start."
Fallows' role as technical director will be part of Aston's three-pronged leadership structure that will also include ex-Alfa man Luca Furbatto as engineering director and Tom McCullough as performance director, with all three men answering to CTO Andy Green.
"Luca will be with us within weeks," Szafnauer added. "Just like everybody, they’ve got their notice periods to work out and all those. So within weeks Luca will be free to start with us."
As Aston Martin ramps up its efforts to become a regular front-runner in F1 in the future, Lawrence Stroll's outfit has also boosted its recruiting drive.
"Things haven’t slowed down in the recruitment, but unless they’re very senior, we don’t announce everybody," said Szafnauer. "We’ve hired over 150 people this year and we will continue to hire."
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