Aston Martin’s participation in Formula 1 was inevitable, from the moment Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll – and father of Formula 1 driver, Lance – took effective ownership of the unstable British brand. His stimulus money kept the brand financially buoyant, and gave a boost to his son’s career as a driver.
Since then, Aston Martin’s motorsport efforts have been redirected towards a racing series that it will likely never see major success in.
The Aston Martin team was formed from the ashes of Racing Point, previously a mid-table team with close ties to constant championship contenders Mercedes. The German brand provides the engines and donates their car from the previous season to Aston. Both parties seem happy enough.
Except, Aston Martin isn’t solely a racing team. It is most well-known for building luxurious sportscars, but after another writing-on-the-wall financial crisis, it desperately needs to redefine its brand image.
But, the pictures we see every fortnight or so, of British Racing Green Aston Martins wallowing in the lower midfield are depressing.
It could have been so different.
Before the Stroll cash-slash-takeover, a very thinly-spread Aston Martin was planning on taking their new ‘halo’ car, the Valkyrie, endurance racing at Le Mans in the new Hypercar category. This was exciting, as the Hypercar regulations required competitors’ machines to bear a resemblance to the company’s existing products. This would have meant an even leaner, even meaner, purely motorsport-focused Valkyrie that would have gone toe-to-toe with Toyota, Audi, Porsche, BMW and Peugeot.
Overall victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, especially with a machine resembling a car people can actually buy, is what some car brands are built on. Victory at the world’s toughest race with a car that is recognisably Aston Martin is something that is immediately tangible, tantalising and positive.
Conversely, Aston Martin’s F1 team could win every round of the world championship, and people would only know it was an Aston Martin because of the name of the team. Spindly, single-seat racing cars do not work as design language projections, because they are such slaves to science. They all look incredibly similar, especially to the untrained eye.
This lack of a tangible connection from Formula 1 can be seen with Mercedes. No matter how many brochures and marketing materials scream about it, Mercedes’ Formula 1 success does not in the least bit influence someone into buying an A-Class. Buyers want a Mercedes because it is considered a prestige brand, not because of intangible, almost colonialist, foreign motorsport triumphs. A prestige reputation can only be gained through building quality road cars.
The only way Aston Martin could prove it makes world-beating sportscars is by beating all the rest. Aston’s focus on F1 is especially upsetting, as at the 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans, they managed to secure class victories in the GTE-Pro and GTE-Am categories, proving that they can take on the mighty Porsche, BMW and Corvette, and win.
Now the dream of Aston Martin taking overall victory at the world’s toughest race will remain a dream for a long, long time. Hell, all the Valkyrie had to do was show up at Le Mans, and it would have done more for Aston Martin than ten seasons in F1.
Kerbside 