Fernando Alonso is helping develop the 1,000bhp Aston Martin Valhalla

Aston Martin has revealed new details about its upcoming, mid-engined spaceship – sorry, supercar – called Valhalla. And the pinnacle of information dispensed - the one key detail we didn't know before but isn't that surprising now - is that Fernando Alonso is helping to shape its development.

Naturally his teammate Lance Stroll is in on the development gravy train, too, both F1 aces feeding into what should be a pretty striking bit of machinery. But really, it’s Alonso’s input that we’re interested in. Because imagine the team radio.

Indeed Aston has spoken at great length about just how much its Formula One team has fed into developing the highly anticipated Valhalla, calling the synergy “the world’s fastest laboratory”. One could argue giving a supercar to an in-form double world champion to develop is like ‘throwing it to the lions, mate’.

The F1 team’s ‘consulting arm’, dubbed Aston Martin Performance Technologies, is the bridge betwixt road and race, helping push the Valhalla’s handling, aero and material use. Of the former, Alonso – and Stroll – will help calibrate the supercar’s handling traits. And quite literally shape the car’s interior – we’re told the driving position takes its cues from the AMR23 F1 car.

As does the underbody and active aero philosophy, which we’re told generates 600kg of downforce at 150mph. There are special aero tricks too, like the front wing able to lie flat in a DRS position, or angled up for more downforce on the front. There’s a multi-element rear wing too.

Far from packing a “GP2 engine!” (though it’s not that far off), there’s a twin-turbo flat-plane crank V8 lurking underneath that together with a triplet of electric motors now pushes out just under 1,000bhp. A little more than when we first saw it, and one highly suspects Alonso will not be concentrating on the fuel.

Two motors sit on the front axle, blessing it not only with all-wheel-drive but also a reduced gearbox weight, as these motors are capable of reversing the car. The third e-motor can then sneak inside the gearbox, “providing additional power to the rear wheels” as well as being a starter for the V8. Naturally for a car with so much drivetrain, there is torque vectoring.

All of it is housed inside a carbon fibre monocoque designed and engineered by AMPT, said to be enormously strong, stiff, and lightweight.

“Our target for Valhalla is to produce a supercar that will set best-in-class standards for performance, dynamics and driving pleasure,” said Carlo Della Casa, Aston’s product development director. “Having open access to the knowledge within the AMF1 team has been a huge advantage for us as we develop this incredible car.”

Aston will have a prototype ready before 2023 is out, and is set to build the thing next year.

'Unbelievable, mate!'