Racing Point to be rebranded Aston Martin

[lauda]

Stroll Snr is investing in the struggling Aston Martin business and will rebrand Racing Point. I wonder where this leaves the Red Bull/Aston Martin relationship?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-51323241

[davidd]

lauda said:

Stroll Snr is investing in the struggling Aston Martin business and will rebrand Racing Point. I wonder where this leaves the Red Bull/Aston Martin relationship?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-51323241

Red Bull deal still going for a while at least.. https://twitter.com/wearetherace/status/1223152758...

[Kraken]

Red Bull released Aston from the exclusive F1 deal and the hypercar deal continues until at least all the cars have been delivered.

So much for all the hype about Aston buying Mercedes...

[TheDeuce]

Kraken said:

Red Bull released Aston from the exclusive F1 deal and the hypercar deal continues until at least all the cars have been delivered.

So much for all the hype about Aston buying Mercedes...

I don't think there was any hype or mention of Aston buying Mercedes, maybe you misread the recent rumours?

The rumour was Toto + Stroll buying Merc F1 and rebranding it Aston, whilst both (now just stroll it seems) also bought Aston. Whatever truth there may be in that possibility - this new development doesn't conflict with it.

[BrettMRC]

Does this mean they won't be pink?

[Krikkit]

TheDeuce said:

Kraken said:

Red Bull released Aston from the exclusive F1 deal and the hypercar deal continues until at least all the cars have been delivered.

So much for all the hype about Aston buying Mercedes...

I don't think there was any hype or mention of Aston buying Mercedes, maybe you misread the recent rumours?

The rumour was Toto + Stroll buying Merc F1 and rebranding it Aston, whilst both (now just stroll it seems) also bought Aston. Whatever truth there may be in that possibility - this new development doesn't conflict with it.

I saw the Aston-buying-Merc F1 rumour a few times, every time you know it's a load of rubbish... Aston couldn't buy a box of pencils at the moment, they've pretty much admitted that without £500m investment they're finished.

ETA: From the chief rumour fabricators at autocar

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/motorsport/merc...

[Tyre Smoke]

Kraken said:

Red Bull released Aston from the exclusive F1 deal and the hypercar deal continues until at least all the cars have been delivered.

So much for all the hype about Aston buying Mercedes...

It might be me, it might be the lack of commas, but I need this explaining.

Red Bull have released Aston Martin from their sponsorship of Red Bull F1. I get that. So presumably there will be no Aston Martin anywhere near the Red Bull team. Racing Point will be rebranded as Aston Martin and will presumably carry the Aston Logo/advertising. I get that.

What I don't understand is what this has to do with Aston Martin's Hypercar for the WEC. Could someone explain please?

[BrettMRC]

Tyre Smoke said:

It might be me, it might be the lack of commas, but I need this explaining.

Red Bull have released Aston Martin from their sponsorship of Red Bull F1. I get that. So presumably there will be no Aston Martin anywhere near the Red Bull team. Racing Point will be rebranded as Aston Martin and will presumably carry the Aston Logo/advertising. I get that.

What I don't understand is what this has to do with Aston Martin's Hypercar for the WEC. Could someone explain please?

I'm assuming there was/is development and design work from the Red Bull team/Adrian Newey into the WEC project?

[andrewcliffe]

The Valkyrie is an Aston Martin - Red Bull collaboration, so that relationship has to continue, and if its going to be developed into a WEC entry, who better to develop the car than the team heavily involved in its design.

[b11ocx]

New livery 😀

[TheDeuce]

Krikkit said:

I saw the Aston-buying-Merc F1 rumour a few times, every time you know it's a load of rubbish... Aston couldn't buy a box of pencils at the moment, they've pretty much admitted that without £500m investment they're finished.

ETA: From the chief rumour fabricators at autocar

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/motorsport/merc...

That doesn't actually claim that Aston themselves would buy the team, but the title is so badly worded that I can see it could be read that way! Anyway, for sure I think virtually everyone knows they could in no way afford that.

Is this a good news story for Aston fans? I imagine it'll be a big talking point at their next car club meeting.

[AJB88]

My understanding is AM Red Bull will continue till the end of 2020, then AM will move to Racing Point and become Aston Martin Racing.

So we will have
Scuderia Ferrari
Mercedes
Alfa Romeo
Renault
Aston Martin

[Tyre Smoke]

there is already AMR in the WEC and other endurance events. I suppose this will continue? The endurance thing seems to be a factory backed thing whereas the Stroll(Racing Point) team are a standalone entity which now has a stakeholder of both them and AM.

I see this as good news for Aston Martin.

[LaurasOtherHalf]

Aston Martin to stay with Red Bull for this year, they only move to Force Stroll in 2021

[Evercross]

I don't see how any of this doesn't preclude Mercedes bowing out at the end of 2020 as a team, scaling down to be an engine supplier only to Aston Martin F1? That would very much align with the road car policy, plus Stroll as a businessman is known for building up brands before selling them on - BMW have Rolls Royce and VAG have Bentley, why wouldn't Mercedes want a slice of premium UK branding?

[sgtBerbatov]

So with this new investment, will we see Aston Martin make F1 engines as well? Or they just going to keep running Merc engines?

[Evercross]

sgtBerbatov said:

So with this new investment, will we see Aston Martin make F1 engines as well? Or they just going to keep running Merc engines?

Don't be surprised if post 2020 the Mercedes F1 engine operation is rebranded Aston Martin. This looks to me to all intents and purposes a great way for Merc to scale down their F1 involvement without withdrawing completely (and dropping several teams in the mire with no engine supply) and avoiding having to invest massively to keep their brand at the level it is at currently post-2021 reg changes.

Might make things interesting for McLaren though....

[Fundoreen]

A certain amount of unwillingness to accept the quite straight forward story.
Force india/racing point/aston martin will just badge up a mercedes lump as their own.
They put mercedes engines in their road cars anyway.
Maybe that WEC car wont be entered in WEC now as they are an F1 outfit.
Maybe strolls dad will do a better job running aston martin than has happened so far.
Aston martin branded everything in sports direct etc.
The fact a basket case like aston martin was ever going to buy the mercedes team was a laugh but I guess
this is how business is done in places like the city of london.

[TheDeuce]

sgtBerbatov said:

So with this new investment, will we see Aston Martin make F1 engines as well? Or they just going to keep running Merc engines?

This investment is to give AM the cashflow required to survive - effectively buying them time so that Stroll (and others) can effect changes and hopefully rescue the business, and of course hopefully make some money out of it one way or another.

In no way do AM have the money required to develop new engines for anyone, or even themselves. Their last engine project started 10 years ago, with production starting 2016. Their fortunes have declined somewhat since 2011.. The price customer teams pay for F1 engines is fixed, so for AM to return as an engine supplier would require massive investment from their side, with no chance of directly making any of it back.

If after their first year as title sponsor of Racing Point it turns out that the F1 connection is working well, then I suppose anything is possible down the line.

[Muzzer79]

Evercross said:

I don't see how any of this doesn't preclude Mercedes bowing out at the end of 2020 as a team

Who would Mercedes sell to?

There's a hell of a lot of staff in Brackley (and other places) plus equipment, buildings, etc.

Yes, F1 is a non-essential activity, but they've invested a huge amount into it. That's a lot to just write off.

Stroll isn't going to buy it - he's got his own team and his own car company now thank you very much.

Perhaps weirdly aswell - F1 teams are rarely sold when they're winning, as they're very valuable on that basis and it's a cyclical sport. They are bought when they've fallen down the cycle and are worth less.

Why would you buy Mercedes for £x00m now when it could be worth considerably less in 18 months time after the big rule change?

For example - Toyota, Honda, BMW, etc all pulled out when they were struggling or there was economic pressures and none of them were dominating the sport, thereby recouping a large chunk of their investment......

Evercross said:

I don't see how any of this doesn't preclude Mercedes bowing out at the end of 2020 as a team, scaling down to be an engine supplier only to Aston Martin F1?

Mercedes have a contract with Williams and McLaren for 2021 onwards so can't just supply Racing-Force-Point-India-Aston Martin exclusively.

Contracts can be bought out, but that's more $$$$$ and in this scenario they've already wound up their F1 team with no buyer on the horizon so have forked out many, many millions to do that.

Evercross said:

Stroll as a businessman is known for building up brands before selling them on - BMW have Rolls Royce and VAG have Bentley, why wouldn't Mercedes want a slice of premium UK branding?

Mercedes do not historically buy other brands. They only own Mercedes Benz, Mercedes AMG, Maybach and Smart.
If they want to enter a niche, they will do it with their own brand.