We all know that Lawrence Stroll’s take over of Aston Martin Lagonda, as well as the ailing Force India Formula One team has been in a move to rejuvenate the brand of Aston Martin, as well as bring about a raft of changes, primarily on the financial side to build a championship-winning team.
For a brand like Aston Martin to succeed, both in terms of sales and profits, a fast car alone will not do the trick. You need passion, emotion, and another dimension of tangible connection with the brand, apart from the thrills and fun the car would offer. Such a tangible connection is what makes Ferrari special.
The best, and perhaps a hardcore way of making Aston Martin a household name is by having a Formula One factory team. This is a proven way of achieving the said goal for the brands. I mean, look no further than McLaren, who reached that prestige status by making stellar cars, as well as showing their seriousness about their brand by going racing.
Now, returning to the matter at hand, Mr Lawrence Stroll’s vision with these 2 independent entities is clear. However, the results that we see today are far from the same.
On one hand, we have the brand, Aston Martin. Although the company has changed 3 CEOs in 3 years, I think that could be on purpose, rather than an internal fallout. If we look at the numbers, the brand, especially with the introduction of the DBX SUV, has been on a sharp upward trajectory. They have improved their sales in 2021 by 82%, and have minimised their operating losses by a huge margin.
Moreover, thanks to Adrian Newey, and the collab with Red Bull, the company have such a stellar halo car that represents the brand. Such a representation could not be better asked for, so much so that Red Bull themselves are now getting in the game with their RB-17.
Apart from all of this, I believe Aston Martin, as a brand is back in talk. It always had an element of prestige around it, but it was about time that the organization behind the brand took it to the next level and made it something better than it is today.
The other side.
After Stroll’s takeover of the Force India Formula One team, the team, who were a very small, very mobilised unit expanded massively under his helm. The team is also getting a whole new state-of-the-art factory built to further aid the team’s climb to the top.
However, while we know that F1 is not about immediate results, ever since 2021, they’ve been struggling quite hard. As we all know, the 2022 car is the true “post Stroll era” racing car produced from the ground up. So, to see them struggle to make it into Q2, let alone Q3 is a big blow for all the fans, and especially the team, and the financiers backing it.
Of course, this is not to say anything negative about the leadership of Lawrence Stroll. However, all we, F1 fans know is that the way a team is run is far different from the way a company is run. So we may be seeing some corporate leadership funnelling into the team, thus making things a bit more difficult for the gelling process.
Another main thing to note is that the team is no more the underdog. They’re expected to deliver results and are given the resources to do so. While one may think that is a slam dunk success formula, it may prove to be less straightforward than initially imagined.
The mentality & culture that fuels a small team like Force India in 2018 is very different from the mentality that fuels a massive operation like Mercedes AMG F1, or Red Bull Racing. So this could just be a transition period where there is a shift in culture, and that is mostly the case.
However, even without the results, the mere presence of the team within the grid is making serious amends to the brand reputation of Aston Martin. You can see that with all the high-profile sponsors they’ve managed to sign, despite having sub-par performances for the past 2 years almost now.
Ultimately all of this could just be turbulence, and we could look back at this period and laugh it off as a blip. Lawrence Stroll is a successful man who knows what he’s doing. So, whatever the timeline is, I am sure the Team would deliver the results that are expected from them in due course, and perhaps even challenge or win that all-coveted World Championship!
