Aston Martin's path to Formula 1 was officially secured on 30 March under new shareholder investment, including from a consortium lead by new executive chairman Lawrence Stroll.
The 2021 F1 season will see Aston return to the grid as a works F1 team operating from the team's base in Silverstone. The move is effectively a rebrand of Stroll's existing Racing Point team.
Aston Martin Lagonda approved a £536 million fundraising round on Monday, underpinned by an injection of £260m of new capital from Yew Tree Consortium - a group of investors led by Stroll.
The current Racing Point team today released a statement detailing the importance of a Formula 1 to the Aston brand.
"There is no better way to build the Aston Martin brand globally, and to engage with its customer base, than to have a successful works team in Formula 1. The sport demands excellence in design and engineering, and relentless innovation, much of which will be shared with the engineering and development teams at Gaydon and will progressively be incorporated into the future generations of cars, particularly the planned range of mid-engine cars."
The statement confirms work has begun "to lay the foundations for the success of the team, the development of the cars and the building of the brand globally". This is despite the whole sport coming to a halt during the coronavirus pandemic, allowing a number of teams to join the effort to develop and build hospital ventilators.
Racing Point released a Q&A with Lawrence Stroll discussing the Aston deal and its future in F1.
Q&A with Lawrence Stroll
Events have developed quickly over the last few months, but you must be delighted to have officially completed the process.
“The process of investing in this wonderful car brand has required all of my attention and energy for a number of months. There were certainly some sleepless nights. At the same time, it has been one of the most exciting deals in which I’ve ever been involved. Cars are my passion, a huge part of my life, and Aston Martin has always had a special place in my heart.
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Range
AMs problem with their current range is that they have tried to spin off too many similar products to increase volume. Porsche have shown the way with their SUVs. AM now needs to, after releasing the DBX, reduce the rest of the range to create clear air between their products. As with other manufacturers, there will be plenty of money to be made by releasing limited edition versions of these models. Ferruccio Lamborghini had the good sense to know that F1 is a money pit.
Stroll in the park
We all have nothing to do so let's play this game. What happened to these companies after an individual took over?
- AC Cars Brian Angliss
- Aston Martin - Victor Gauntlett
- Lotus/Bugatti - Romano Artiolli
- Lamborghini - Mimram brothers
- Spyker/Saab - Victor Muller
Yup, each had their moment of glory as Owner-of-moment before selling on to a larger parent. Many lost nearly everything and despite Autocar's rosy welcome to Stroll, Aston idoes not have sufficient working capital based on European Securities and Markets Authority rules because coronavirus created "increased and unquantifiable uncertainty".
The sad result is that in addition to Stroll's shoveling in of cash mean they also need to access an additional $100 million of delayed draw notes issued in October 2019. These are super-high interest loan guarantees with an eye-watering 12 percent interest rate.
Stroll may be buying Aston cheap but the debt it's going to carry will ensure he can be nothing more than a caretaker before Mercedes(?) or another manufacturer picks it up for peanuts.
Negative comments from most
Stroll is clearly a very successful man, why do some, with zero evidence or knowledge of what is planned, then pan him before its had a chance to play out? CV19 will affect most companies in the whole world, so why single out Aston Martin?
Some people suck the optimism out of life. Aston is clearly underperforming, but it has huge potential.
I'd imagine the F1 team naming will be quite cheap, and commercial sponsorship will continue for the F1 team.
And yes, we know the current designs aren't as nice as the old, and that they should sack the designer. Broken record like BMW engines.
Paul Dalgarno wrote:
Yes, Aston is under performing. Glad you figured that out. Now why? Take your time...
And does it have huge potential? Only if it decides that the current path is a dead end and changes direction.
That's the difference between you and I. I'm identifying where they're failing and offering a clear solution to unleashing their potential.