If you’ve invested hundreds of millions of dollars to rescue a struggling icon of the British automotive industry and bring them to new glories – both on and off the racetrack – you need a solid plan to make it happen.
When Lawrence Stroll and his business partners took over Aston Martin in early 2020 and immediately announced they would bring the famous name back to the Formula 1 grid after an absence of more than six decades, the team’s new co-owner held lofty ambitions for the Silverstone squad.Stating that the rebranded team would be “highly competitive” from the outset, Stroll later revealed Aston Martin’s core mission to transform “into a Formula 1 world championship-winning organisation within the next four to five years.”
Many a manufacture has heralded their arrival on the Formula 1 grid by expressing their desires for mid-to-long-term championship glory and the vast majority have departed with tails between legs. But Stroll’s Aston Martin is a different animal – no longer an underdog, but a powerful predator, entirely confident in its ability to reach apex status in its new, unforgiving habitat.
The AMR-21 was launched 12 months ago on the back of Racing Point’s most successful season since its days as Jordan. Lawrence Stroll was confident that the team would be able to immediately build on that momentum into 2021. “The team’s ambitions are to pick up where we left off,” he had said. “I believe we’ve taken a new, big step forward as Aston Martin. It’s all a relative game – I’m sure our competition has taken a step forward as well. I have a good feeling that we’ve taken a little bit bigger step forward than them.”
However, it quickly dawned on the team that 2021 would be a much more challenging campaign than the one they enjoyed with their ‘pink Mercedes’ the year before. Snookered by subtle changes in the technical regulations which hit those using a ‘low-rake’ aerodynamic concept harder than their rivals, Aston Martin fell from fourth place in the constructors championship – with 195 points, four podiums and a race win in 2020 – to finishing their first year in green in seventh place, with just 77 points. Sebastian Vettel, newly hired from Ferrari, took their only podium (and lost a second to a technical infringement) while his team mate, Lawrence’s son Lance, never finished in the top five.
NB. 1991-2005 Jordan; 2006 Midland; 2007 Spyker; 2008-18 Force India; 2019-20 Racing Point, 2021 Aston Martin
But while the 2021 season may have proved a disappointment on the track, major groundwork for Aston Martin’s long term future was being laid at its Silverstone base. In September, the team broke ground on a massive £200 million expansion of its factory, designed to not just expand their operation, but make it more effective and efficient. Featuring a new wind tunnel and an enhanced simulator, the “state-of-the-art” facility is planned to be operational by January.
But beyond the facilities and equipment needed for Aston Martin to evolve the way its owners desire, the right personnel and leadership to make the most of them is absolutely critical. It’s no surprise that Aston Martin have been the most active team of the last year in terms of seeking out talent from rival F1 teams and other motorsport categories to bolster their ranks ahead of the next phase of the master plan to unfold.
Just a week after breaking ground on their new factory expansion, the team announced that former McLaren CEO and team principal Martin Whitmarsh had been hired as group CEO of Aston Martin Performance Technologies, which encompasses their Formula 1 efforts. Whitmarsh’s mission was clear, with Lawrence Stroll reiterating that his new hire had been tasked with transforming the team into a championship contender “within the next four to five years.”
Red Bull’s head of aerodynamics, Dan Fallows, was named another major hiring by Aston Martin effort back in June 2021. But a legal wrangle between the teams meant they only recently agreed terms last month for Fallows to assume his new role as technical director in April. Aston Martin also prised away Mercedes’ chief aerodynamicist Eric Blandin and Alfa Romeo designer Luca Furbatto as part of the most aggressive recruitment drive the sport had seen in recent memory.
Reporting directly to Whitmarsh, Krack will form an important piece of the puzzle, Aston Martin hope, as the team enters this second year of its five-year plan. A recent announcement of a joint title sponsor – Saudi Arabian national oil company Aramco – also reflected how the team was growing from a commercial standpoint.
With so many unknowns heading into this dramatically different new season, it’s difficult to predict how far up the field Aston Martin will be by the time the AMR22 hits the track in Bahrain for the opening race of the season. But with the benefit of a year’s worth of development input from four-time world champion Vettel, it’s likely the team will be expecting to better last year’s performance as a bare minimum.
Even if the 2022 season sees the Aston Martins feature in the middle of the pack once again, that will not be likely to worry the team at Silverstone or its ownership. With so many things falling into place, the future for the team in green is looking brighter than ever.
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ruliemaulana (@ruliemaulana)
10th February 2022, 7:48
Lawrence Stroll is a visionary businessman. I have confidence in this Aston Martin. Mainly because he started at cost cap era and can allocated resources more flexible and without disruptive than other big team.
But all the talents and those fancy facilities is just getting started, I think ending this year at fifth is good enough.
Aussie Rod (@aussierod)
10th February 2022, 10:20
Unfortunately even if Aston Martin produce a car competitive enough to elevate them into the top 5 (or higher), I’m sure many share the same doubts I do about their driver line up. I simply can’t see Stroll and Vettel extracting the performance and consistent results that other drivers in the top half of the field can and will.
If they are serious about challenging for podiums, wins and championships then they seriously need to replace Lance Stroll at the least.
Jason (@jasonj)
10th February 2022, 12:16
@aussierod It’s just not going to happen that they put Lance out, the main reason they have Vettel is so Lance can get feedback and tips from a world champion. Besides, It’s very obvious that Vettel is past his prime, and even in his prime he was a lead from the front type driver, he’d grab another couple more WDC’s if Aston Martin had a front runner this year. But even in a competitive Ferrari he wasn’t setting the world on fire.
My guess is Stroll has his eye on new talent in the next couple of years, until then Vettel is great for marketing that you have a 4x WDC.
Dominique (@tryneplague)
10th February 2022, 13:09
I think it’s a win/win for both Strolls actually whatever happens to Lance.
If Lance improves theres always a chance he’ll get a WDC one day, maybe Button style, and they’ll both be happy.
If Lance doesn’t improve, he can still continue to drive if he enjoys it or decide to stop, theres always a whole F1 Team he can take over from his father some years later and this time with the best available drivers.
JohnH (@johnrkh)
10th February 2022, 10:32
Yes, the 2021 season was really a change in fortune for the Strolls team. It was quite an eye-opener to see what a difference brake cooling covers make :)
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
10th February 2022, 11:43
I don’t think we have any data to suggest how Mr Stroll’s plan is going, and won’t have much even at the end of this season.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
10th February 2022, 13:26
I seriously wish them success. I’m always wary of new factories or headquarters as they usually coincide with a company’s demise.
Hopefully, they’ll manage to do well.
mmertens (@mmertens)
10th February 2022, 14:51
They are playing the right moves, looking for the long game. I believe that they also need to create now a good driving academy for Aston Martin, as Vettel doesn’t look that will be there for too long and Stroll is mediocre at best (but he’s guaranteed as 1 of their driver line up for years to come), but they need to start nurturing talents for the years to come, it will be cheaper for them than paying millions for past prime Vettel.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
11th February 2022, 0:47
Yes, half the grid is prob better than vettel nowadays, and this is not an anti-vettel comment, the f1 fanatic rankings agree.
A User
10th February 2022, 16:36
Hulkenberg would be a better fit at the moment than either of their current drivers, and I actually quite like Vettel…
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
11th February 2022, 0:44
I think I agree.