An iconic British sports car brand with a rich motoring heritage. An ambitious owner decides that the best way to achieve success in Formula 1 is to buy an independent team that has won a few races, rename the team, adopt the color green and sign a top Ferrari driver looking for a new project. The team is presenting itself in a big way and generating a lot of attention, and in a way as a British response to Ferrari.
Seventh place in the constructors’ championship is nothing to write home about, and yet it is all that this new company has been able to achieve. The role of team manager is unenviable, and almost untenable. And changes of direction are the order of the day.
This was the Jaguar Racing Formula 1 team. And any similarity to the Aston Martin team is purely coincidental…
The purchase of Stewart Grand Prix by Ford, which renamed it Jaguar , with the signing of Eddie Irvine from Ferrari, is echoed in Lawrence Stroll ‘s decision to buy the team formerly known as Jordan , now renamed Aston. Martin and with another old acquaintance of those from Maranello : Sebastian Vettel.
Having equaled Jaguar’s best-ever seventh in the constructors’ world championship last year, Aston Martin expected better things this season. But the dream of further success in 2022 was soon dashed, starting with Vettel missing the first two rounds after testing positive for COVID-19.
The third round of this year’s championship, the Australian GP, kind of summed up how things are going. In the first practice session, Vettel’s car stalled and smoke came out of the rear. His decision to return to the pits driving a scooter on the track earned him a “joke” of 5,000 euros fine. The subsequent engine change caused him to miss FP2, while his team-mate’s car, Lance Stroll’s, caused the session’s red flag by flying a wheel cover.
Irvine’s third-place finish at Monza 2002 was one of Jaguar’s brightest moments in Formula 1
In the last practices of that grand prix, both Aston Martins crashed. In qualifying, Stroll failed to set a time after colliding with the Williams of Nicholas Latifi, a collision in which the stewards judged Stroll to be at fault, resulting in a three-place grid penalty. And the green cars lined up 17th and 19th on the grid following Alexander Albon’s Williams disqualification for failing to provide the required fuel sample.
Vettel retired in the race, while Stroll finished 12th, 90 seconds behind the winning Ferrari of Charles Leclerc. It’s easy to see why parallels are now being drawn between Aston Martin and Jaguar Racing. ..
It was none other than Ford’s then CEO, Jacques Nasser , who made the final decision to buy Stewart Grand Prix and rebrand it as Jaguar, which at the time was part of the company’s Premier Automotive Group , led by German executive Wolfgang Reitzle. . That division also included Aston Martin…
“The root cause [of Jaguar’s failure] was that Ford is a very big company and they went into Formula 1 without really understanding the magnitude of what they were getting into. Or, really, without anyone at management level really interested in It” Tony Purnell
The Jaguar team was not lacking in experience. Technical direction was handled by Gary Anderson , the famed Jordan designer who had later been signed by Stewart. A die-hard competitor and pragmatist, he was excited at the prospect of working in a full-fledged works team. It lasted only a year, a sign of what would come later.
Nasser and Reitzle first appointed Ford vice president and chief technical officer, Neil Ressler , to oversee the team. Ressler was president for just one year, then stepped aside to allow American motoring legend Bobby Rahal to take the helm. When Niki Lauda joined the team, conflict was inevitable and Rahal left. Not even the Austrian, with his direct style, could make it work. The relationship never gelled.
When Lauda also resigned, Ford’s Global Vice President of Product Development, Richard Parry-Jones , put Jaguar Racing in the hands of two well-regarded executives: Tony Purnell and David Pitchforth . Purnell, founder of the motor electronics company Pi Research, which Ford bought in 1999, brought a more analytical approach to the task. Pitchforth came with 15 years of experience managing complex automotive engineering projects.
In 2003, according to Purnell, “Ford gave them a good shot”, but seventh place in the constructors’ championship was as close as it could get. Patience ran out, the budget for 2004 was cut, and at the end of the summer the team was put up for sale. Then Red Bull entered the scene and saved it from closure. Looking back, Purnell is clear on why Jaguar Racing failed.
Mark Webber holds off a pack of faster cars after qualifying second on low fuel at the Hungaroring in 2003
“The root cause was that Ford is a very big company and they came into Formula 1 without really understanding the magnitude of what they were getting into,” he says. “Or, really, without anyone at the management level really interested in it. It didn’t make a lot of money for them when you have a billion-dollar spreadsheet, and they were very much in love with Jackie Stewart.”
It seems extraordinary that Ford, a company with a history of success in F1 in association with Cosworth , did not understand the magnitude of the challenge. When Purnell took over, he realized that Jaguar, despite its prestige, lacked the budget and the commitment of its owners. His view is that teams are often half-fooled, as the new owners are never told the reality of what it’s going to entail.
“I always remember Bernie [Ecclestone] telling me: ‘The only thing that matters is having two teams at the top that the public hangs on to, nothing more. The rest are just to pad the numbers.'”
“I told him a lot of teams weren’t going to survive and he said, ‘Look, the way it works is you sell a team to a billionaire. The billionaire puts more money into the sport than he ever dreamed of. go. But there’s always another billionaire picking it up. So no need to worry.'”
It is unknown if Ecclestone ever voiced that view to Force India’s Vijay Mallya or Lawrence Stroll , but many successful entrepreneurs and billionaires have lived through the cycle of excitement and disillusionment in Formula 1. Ask Tony Fernandes of Formula 1. Caterham…
In Purnell’s view, Jaguar owners’ inability to grasp the scale of the challenge was compounded by a desire to find a quick solution. Something that had to be taken into account, he says.
“They start looking for silver bullets – like signing Niki Lauda – and then, little by little, they realize that this is very hard, that it needs a long-term strategy. Very good management is needed and, if not you have that, at least supply tons of money”.
Not even the addition of Lauda, who speaks frankly, could change the course of Jaguar.
In the end, Jaguar’s fate came down to a meeting in Detroit in which Purnell was asked a simple question: “What does it take to win here?” It is a question that Lawrence Stroll will have pondered.
“I’ve always felt a little bad for answering truthfully,” admits Purnell. “I said: ‘Look, we’re up against Ferrari, who you know, and beating Ferrari is a huge effort. Besides, it’s going to take us five years.’ I think that meeting was probably the beginning of the absolute end.”
It’s hard not to conclude that too many owners believe that success in a particular area of business means they can automatically repeat the feat in F1.
“There is a big difference in the fact that the guy who controls the board of directors is committed and knows what he is getting into. He is not like Bill Ford, who did not know who Eddie Irvine was”, Tony Purnell
“They’re high-achieving guys and along with that there’s a kind of King Midas touch, they buy into it,” adds Purnell. “That arrogance, I’m afraid, is in the Greek myths, and it backfires on you because you don’t respect the opponent. To be fair to [Red Bull owner] Dietrich Mateschitz, he did respect the opposition, although without He certainly spent more than he ever dreamed of in the first five years.”
Which brings us back to Aston Martin, because while some may draw a parallel to Jaguar Racing under Ford, it may also be appropriate to compare Stroll to Mateschitz. Not many expected an energy drink mogul to bring carmakers to the dust in F1, so can a billionaire famous for creating fashion brands Tommy Hilfiger and Michael Kors repeat that success?
Neither Mateschitz nor Stroll is fooled: they know what they want and they expect the people they hire to give it to them. They don’t like to be disappointed. Mateschitz and his motorsports adviser, Helmut Marko , hired Christian Horner to run Red Bull, recruited David Coulthard to help them identify the team’s weaknesses, and then brought in Adrian Newey from McLaren.
Stroll has tasked another former McLaren man, Martin Whitmarsh, with running the F1 programme. Appointed managing director of the Aston Martin Performance Technologies group, Whitmarsh’s arrival spelled the end for Otmar Szafnauer. With serious options of having to retire, the Romanian’s departure to Alpine took a few months to come about.
Purnell, a former Jaguar man, says Stroll is much more aware of the challenges ahead than Ford executives, and knows more of what he’s getting himself into.
With the addition of Mike Krack from BMW as team principal, Aston Martin has experienced people in all key management positions, notably veterans of other highly regarded teams including sporting director Andy Stevenson . , Technical Director Andy Green and Performance Director Tom McCullough . The hiring of aerodynamicist Dan Fallows from Red Bull and the appointment of Luca Furbatto from Alfa Romeo as director of engineering illustrate the drive for greater depth.
No wonder Stroll Sr. wants to hire the best he can find. He has been passionate about racing his whole life, a driver who has been involved in Formula 1 for 30 years, including sponsorship of Team Lotus and Ferrari. It’s a point Purnell is quick to acknowledge when comparing Jaguar.
“If you look at Aston Martin, there’s a big difference that the guy who controls the board is committed and knows what he’s getting himself into,” says Purnell. “He’s not like Bill Ford – with the famous story that he didn’t know who the driver Eddie Irvine was. Bill was the nicest guy, but he had no idea about Formula 1, and neither did the rest of the board.”
Another major difference is that while Jaguar Racing relied heavily on funding from the parent company, Aston Martin has secured an impressive line-up of sponsors.
The team’s Chief Commercial Officer is Olly Dale , previously Chief Commercial Officer of 2022 Champions League runners-up Liverpool FC, while Jefferson Slack , appointed by Stroll, is the team’s Marketing and Commercial Director. The announcement in February that Saudi energy and chemical giant Aramco would join US technology services company Cognizant in sharing team naming rights underscored the success of Aston Martin’s business operation.
These are not small businesses. Aramco had revenue of $400 billion last year, dwarfing Cognizant’s no less impressive $18.65 billion. Cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com, beer company Peroni and industrial equipment manufacturer JCB are just three of the other 23 partners in the group. That translates to more than $100 million in third-party sponsorships, which is a big chunk of the $140 million budget cap. Add to that the team’s share of F1 prize money and the financial picture looks bright.
The money is there, but what about the deadlines?
Lawrence Stroll and his investors are in the midst of an ambitious five-year plan to turn around the success of the Aston Martin Lagonda car company, which they bought in February 2020. As sales last year returned to pre-pandemic levels Due in part to the success of the DBX SUV, and with new models in the pipeline including the DBX707 and the new V12 Vantage, current CEO Tobias Moers has some big goals to hit.
Aston is not short of sponsors with money, a luxury that Jaguar did not have by relying too much on support from Ford.
However, the sales forecast for this year is not good, as Aston Martin aims to sell some 6,600 cars, while the ultimate goal is to sell 10,000 units a year by 2025. Daimler Benz ‘s 20% stake in the company it is critical to help weather the storms caused by the auto industry’s transition to hybrid and all-electric. That relationship is also important in F1.
The F1 team also has a five-year plan that started last year. It will soon break free from the confines of the Silverstone factory, built by Jordan Grand Prix in 1991, and move into a €186m, 370,000sqm venue complete with a new wind tunnel.
The move will take place next year, meaning the 2024 car will be the first to be designed at the new facility. Given the inevitable teething problems that running a brand new factory and wind tunnel can bring, let alone staff integration, 2025 should be the first year that Aston Martin has a car capable of meeting the aspirations. of its owner.
That is the last season of the five-year plan and, although there is talk of attempting the world championship by then, a more realistic and no less worthy goal would be to win races. There is no shortage of precedent for the time it takes to become a winner, no matter how impressive one’s financial resources or management experience.
Lawrence Stroll expects his F1 team management to deliver on the immediate plan, his personal commitment to the project providing the base of support and continuity of focus that a team like Jaguar Racing has always lacked.
When Mercedes-Benz bought Brawn Grand Prix (Brawn GP) after the surprising one-two finish in 2009, it took four more years to get the team back in the title hunt. Red Bull’s first victory came four and a half years after the Austrian energy drink company bought Jaguar Racing from Ford.
There is another side to Stroll, of course, as the father of pilot Lance. Some see it as a blind spot, others point out that Stroll Jr. is fast enough to have scored three podiums and a pole position. Last season, his average position on the starting grid was 13th, to 12th for his team-mate, Vettel, and although the German managed two great second places in Azerbaijan and Hungary (the latter retired after disqualification), they weren’t that far behind in points at the end of the year: Vettel 43, Stroll 34 (although with those 18 it would have been 61-34, almost double).
Vettel considered the possibility of retiring last year and will surely think about it again now. Although on the outside he is positive about the continuity of his career, the team’s mistakes are more frequent. The gains made by the TOP pilot are replaced by the cumulative effect of their own or others’ mistakes that undermine morale. And Vettel hasn’t forgotten how to be fast, but he doesn’t have the same consistency either.
Work on the new Aston Martin campus has already started
Assuming Lance Stroll continues as one of the team’s drivers for as long as his father wishes, it begs the question of what will happen when Vettel leaves. Will the team focus on a top driver capable of leading the team to win races in 2024 or 2025, or will it settle for something less? That is likely to be a pivotal decision over the next 18 months, giving a clear indication of the team’s self-confidence to deliver a truly competitive car for the remainder of that five-year plan.
What happens after 2025 is unknown, especially if Porsche and Audi join F1, something that will change the game if what they have already confirmed comes true. But Lawrence Stroll probably isn’t thinking that long. He expects his F1 team management to deliver on the immediate plan, as his personal commitment to the project provides the support base and continuity of approach that a team like Jaguar Racing has always lacked.
In short, the similarities are only skin deep. Aston Martin’s journey is a totally different story. At least for now…
Aston is, at the moment, a long way from its goals of becoming a race winner and title contender.
