Aston Martin returns to Formula 1 with a familiar face–former world champion, Sebastian Vettel.
SILVERSTONE, England—For the first time in 61 years, the name Aston Martin will return to the Formula 1 world. The long-anticipated return came on Wednesday with the debut of the AMR 21.
The British brand, which has never competed in the sport as a manufacturer, will join such names as Ferrari, Mercedes, and Alpine (Renault’s subsidiary division). As expected, team colors have changed from last year’s Racing Point pink panther livery to the traditional British racing green. The team will continue to use the Austrian BWT water company brand, although there will only be shades of pink on the car. Cognizant, a digital solutions company, will be one of the team’s main sponsors, showing its logo on both sides of the AMR 21.
The car will still be equipped with a Mercedes engine. That engine carried former driver Sergio Perez to his maiden victory at the 2020 Sakir Grand Prix in Bahrain. It was the team’s first victory as well.
Perez has departed for Red Bull, but Lance Stroll, son of current owner Lawrence Stroll, retains his seat on the squad. Sebastian Vettel, the four-time world champion from Germany, left Ferrari to replace Perez in the second seat.
The team technically has taken advantage of the sport’s cost-cutting measures. Still, Technical Director Andy Green has used the allowance of a token system that allows him to change the chassis’ design, something that Green does not want to divulge. “Yes, it was a chassis change, but no, I can’t divulge the reasons why we changed the chassis,” Green said. “It’s a change that had been planned right from the very beginning before we’d even went into the regulation alterations to lock down the cars and try and carry over as much of the car as possible.”
Aston Martin’s Otmar Szafnauer (photo, 7 Up Sports)
Owner Stroll believes that the team can be title contenders after next season when the chassis and engines will be different. But Team Manager Otmar Szafnauer feels that there are many things left to accomplish before the team gets to that moment.
“It’s a lot easier to say we’re going to be fighting and winning a world championship than actually do it,” Szafnauer said. “People in Formula One, in other teams, have said you’ve got to give three to five years to do so, and we’re no different. For the last year, we’ve planned a new factory with new infrastructure in a place to house all of us under one roof, to grow the team, and the implementation of that has just now begun at Silverstone, and towards the end of 2022, we should be moving into the new factory.”
And not only Aston Martin faces challenges. Other teams, like McLaren, Alpine, Alpha Tauri, and, hopefully, Ferrari, will be making the adjustments required to achieve contender status
