Having competed under a variety of different names over the last few decades, Aston Martin has recently come to the front of the sport due to its new billionaire owner, Laurence Stroll. Having bought the racing team back in 2019, Laurence Stroll has dumped millions into the Formula 1 team in the hopes of making it a Championship-winning outfit.
Laurence Stroll spared no expense to bring Sebastian Vettel on board for the 2021 season, replacing the loyal Sergio Perez in the process. This saw Stroll announce major investments into the team, such as a brand-new wind tunnel and HQ at their Silverstone campus. While the team may not have had the best of starts in 2022, Stroll and other investors are patiently waiting for the team to make a turnaround. To learn more about the British Formula 1 team, here are 10 fast facts about Aston Martin:
10 History Of The Team
Aston Martin does have a brief history in Formula 1 that dates back to 1959. Having raced under their own name for 2 seasons, they withdrew from the sport officially at the end of the 1960 season. The name was reprised in 2021 when Laurence Stroll purchased a significant stake in Aston Martin and merged that investment with his investment in Formula 1.
The team Stroll bought was named Force India and was owned by Vijay Mallya. Originally entering as the Jordan Grand Prix team, Vijay purchased a 42% stake in the team for $100 million. When Vijay went through some financial issues, Laurence Stroll managed to pick up the team for around $235 million in 2019.
9 Force India
Vijay Mallya’s tenure with the club was a brilliant display of minimal input, maximum output. Well before anyone knew of the drama and financial stress in the team, Force India was an incredibly successful Formula 1 team. Force India managed to secure 4th or 5th place in most races and occasionally found themselves on the podium.
One of the most notable podium finishes being the 2016 Monaco Grand Prix, where Perez found himself behind the Red Bull car of Daniel Ricciardo and the Mercedes driven by Lewis Hamilton. This race proved emphatic as the Force India managed to beat a Mercedes, a Red Bull, and both Ferraris.
8 Sold To Laurence Stroll
Laurence Stroll was heavily invested in Formula 1 for a long time. This was evident by his investment into the Williams team, where his son Lance Stroll was given a seat. Due to his investment not going as well as expected, when the Force India team was up for rescue, he jumped at the opportunity.
Laurence Stroll did not buy the team entirely, but managed to lead a consortium of investors to rescue the team. Laurence Stroll and his investors managed to purchase the team for a tidy sum of $235 million. Despite this being the funds raised, Stroll only paid around $100 million for the team and assumed around $20 million of its debt.
7 Stroll In For Ocon
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Once Stroll managed to purchase the team, he quickly moved his son from Williams to the new team. Stroll also invested some of the money raised in rebranding the team into Racing Point. With Stroll coming into the team, Stroll had to decide on the second seat between Ocon and Perez.
While Ocon and Perez were both brilliant drivers, Perez was chosen to remain with the team for the following season. This was undoubtedly because of the sponsorships Perez brought to the team. Many critics slammed the decision to replace Ocon, including Toto Wolff and World Champion Lewis Hamilton.
6 The Pink Mercedes
While 2019 was a turbulent year for Racing Point, the 2020 season started off with controversy. Aiming to cut development costs, Racing Point decided to purchase information regarding specific parts from Mercedes at the end of 2019. This was then used to develop their 2020 contender.
The 2020 car was incredibly impressive, easily placing on the podium during testing. However, the car was so close in design to the 2019 Mercedes that critics and pundits referred to the Racing Point as the “Pink Mercedes.” Racing Point was fined around $450,000 for the infringement, but was allowed to keep using the car throughout the year.
5 Sergio Perez Sakhir Win
It was during the 2020 season that Vettel’s departure from Ferrari was announced. Stroll grabbed this as an opportunity to strengthen the lineup of his new team as he planned major changes to come into effect for the 2021 season.
Despite not having a seat confirmed for the 2021 season, Sergio Perez put on some impressive performances in the closing stages of the season. However, nothing could come close to his amazing performance at the Sakhir Grand Prix. After having spun in the first lap, Perez worked his way up to overtake everyone on track and win the race.
4 Rebranded As Aston Martin
Stroll purchased and rebranded the team as Racing Point in 2019. However, Stroll indicated his plans for the team very shortly after that. He did this through purchasing a significant stake of Aston Martin and merging his investment with his Formula 1 team.
This gave birth to the Aston Martin Formula 1 Team, the first time the legendary British manufacturer was seen in Formula 1 since 1960. This helped rebrand the entire team and was a true work of art. A special green color was developed specifically for Aston Martin in 2021, paying homage to the British Racing Green featured on many other Aston Martin cars over the years.
3 Vettel Podium In Hungary
Although the marketing and internal development of the team were on point, Aston Martin lacked performance throughout the year. Coming off the “Pink Mercedes” model, Aston Martin saw themselves drop down to 6th in the Championship.
However, fortunes turned in Hungary as Valtteri Bottas managed to wipe out half the grid into a wet turn 1. This saw Vettel and Ocon lead the entire grid from the pit lane on the restart. While Vettel tried to overtake Ocon for the win, the Frenchman did just enough to secure his first-ever win in Formula 1. Although this was the first podium for Aston Martin, Vettel was later disqualified for a fuel irregularity.
2 New Developments
Aston Martin may look and sound like a great Formula 1 team right now, but there are massive plans underway to transform the entire team. These plans include a brand-new wind tunnel and HQ that is to be built at the Silverstone racetrack.
Riding on the success of “Drive to Survive,” Aston Martin also launched their own web series to showcase the behind-the-scenes of the modern-day Formula 1 team. This has undoubtedly been the most successful piece of marketing to come out of Formula 1 as they set their sights on growing commercially around the world.
1 The Green Red Bull
The 2022 season was not something fully anticipated by all the Formula 1 teams. The porpoising effect took everyone by surprise, leaving many teams far off their predicted pace. This, along with a few other errors, put Aston Martin right at the back of the grid with Williams for the first few races of the season.
Things changed substantially when Aston Martin unveiled their upgraded car at the Spanish Grand Prix. Having been heavily inspired by the Red Bull’s sidepods, the car was quick to be named the “Green Red Bull” by commentators and pundits on F1TV. While this may be controversial, it seems to have worked for the team as it significantly improved their overall lap times across the board.