Racing Point has officially confirmed the change to Aston Martin from 2021 F1 season irrespective of the COVID-19 pandemic and regulation push to 2022.
The change from Racing Point to Aston Martin F1 Racing has been made official by the team after completing the final work with regards to Lawrence Stroll and his consortium taking over the British car maker after initiating the process few months back.
Having bought Force India from administration, Stroll and his team took over Aston Martin as well and announced that the iconic name will return to F1 in 2021. This move has now been sealed irrespective of the COVID-19 pandemic and regulation push to 2022.
In fact, Racing Point had already confirmed FormulaRapida.net that there will be no change in their plans when contact a week back. The team will become a works outfit from 2021 under Aston Martin guise – much like how Red Bull operates.
“The process of investing in this wonderful car brand has required all of my attention and energy for a number of months,” said Stroll. “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. To stand here today and announce that the agreement is finalised is a huge privilege and one of the proudest moments of my career.
“With all the paperwork completed, I can focus my attention on implementing the strategy to make this fantastic brand even more successful in the years ahead. A brand with the pedigree and history of Aston Martin needs to be competing at the highest level of motorsport.
“I think it’s the most exciting thing that’s happened in recent memory in Formula 1 and it’s incredibly exciting for all stakeholders in the sport, especially the fans. I can’t think of a better name for a F1 team.
“Our investment strategy places Formula 1 as a central pillar of the global marketing strategy, and it makes perfect sense to rebrand Racing Point for this purpose. Aston Martin has been competing very successfully in various classes of motorsport throughout its history, but we now have an opportunity to create a works team in F1.
“The global spotlight of Formula 1 is second to none and we will leverage this reach to showcase the Aston Martin brand in our key markets,” summed up Stroll. Racing Point also noted that Silverstone will remain their base but work will be shared between them and the group at Aston Martin base in Gaydon going forward.
The release added more information: “On Monday 30th of March, the shareholders of Aston Martin Lagonda approved a £536m fundraising, underpinned by an injection of £260m of new capital from Yew Tree Consortium – a group of investors led by Lawrence Stroll. As part of this investment Mr Stroll will become Executive Chairman of Aston Martin and Aston Martin will create its own works F1 racing team.”
Here’s the last update on deal changes
Here’s the initial story around Lawrence Stroll buyout of Aston Martin
Here’s the latest from FIA on 2020/2021 changes
Here’s Mercedes helping under Project Pitlane