Stroll: Aston Martin tie-up great transformation, more value

Lance Stroll says the Aston Martin rebranding in the pipeline for Racing Point will help transform the team and provide greater value and attraction.

Team owner Lawrence Stroll, Lance’s father, has become a minority shareholder in Aston Martin after agreeing a £182 million deal earlier this year which has paved the way for the British car brand to rename the Racing Point F1 team.

While any rebranding won’t arrive until 2021 at the earliest, following the launch of the 2020 BWT Racing Point team in Austria, Stroll already sees the clear benefits of being associated to the Aston Martin brand.

“It is my dad’s project. Obviously I talk to my dad so we have spoken about it. It is very exciting and I think it is a great transformation for the team,” Stroll said at Racing Point’s launch ahead of his fourth season in F1 and second at the team.

“Right now, the car is still pink and we’ve got a season ahead of ourselves to focus on, so I am not going to go into the Aston Martin stuff just yet.

“But they are a hell of a brand and have got an incredible name.

“I think for everyone involved in the Racing Point team it is a big uplift and an excitement that should bring us more value. It is great in many ways.”

Stroll’s teammate Sergio Perez has echoed his comments and feels given the recent investment in the team is can impress both in 2020 and after its rebranding with Aston Martin.

“I think that is a huge step to all of a sudden become a factory team with such a iconic brand,” Perez said. “I think it’s just great. It’s another big step in the right direction for the team, and this year we’re going to see big results from us.

“Obviously right now everyone is very confident but hopefully once we are in Melbourne hopefully we are able to show to ourselves that we have done good work over the last years, because I think this car is the work of so many years in the team.

“The team has gone through very difficult periods and I hope finally this car is the one we’ve been waiting for for many years.”

Canadian billionaire Stroll led a consortium to buy the Force India F1 team in August 2018 which led to its renaming to Racing Point.

Aston Martin, who are currently title sponsors of Red Bull Racing, have already confirmed its existing deal will finish at the end of the 2020 season but the call will have no impact on its joint-venture Valkyrie car with Red Bull Technologies.

During the build-up to Racing Point’s launch, CEO and team principal Otmar Szafnauer promised a full works Aston Martin team from 2021.

“It’s significant news for Aston Martin and for Formula 1 itself,” Szafnauer said.

“As one of the most iconic sports car brands in the world, Aston Martin needed a presence on the F1 grid and this solution delivers a fully-fledged works Aston Martin F1 Team from 2021 onwards.

“Lawrence [Stroll] spoke to the staff last week and set out the clear objective to establish Aston Martin as one of the top teams in the sport.

“Everyone is proud to represent a legendary car manufacturer returning to the pinnacle of motorsport.”

Szafnauer also confirmed the change will have no impact on its 2020 F1 campaign with the alterations happening behind the scenes.

“There’s no immediate impact on our current campaign and we will continue to compete as Racing Point until the rebrand takes place at the start of the 2021 season,” he said.

“From then we will be known simply as ‘Aston Martin F1 Team’ - so the Racing Point name will disappear. It’s important we don’t take our eyes off the main task for 2020, which is to be competitive on the racetrack with the RP20.”

F1 pre-season testing gets underway at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on February 19.