Aston Martin confirm 2021 entry

[JonChalk]

Brave, but not unsurprising; think everyone knew it was coming. Bye-bye Racing India thingy, hello AM.

https://www.racefans.net/2020/04/01/aston-martin-o...

[anonymous-user]

JonChalk said:

Brave, but not unsurprising; think everyone knew it was coming. Bye-bye Racing India thingy, hello AM.

https://www.racefans.net/2020/04/01/aston-martin-o...

What’s in a name? He might have been better off investing his millions in a couple of decent drivers and more engineers.

[FourWheelDrift]

Racing Point becomes Aston Martin Racing. (point) It doesn't need other teams permission to change names, long time plan.

[JonChalk]

R123 & 4WD - valid, but still, given AM's slightly precarious trading position right now, an odd time to add your name to a very precarious season's racing.

I know Stroll's money will bankroll them for a while and Wolff is (possibly) heading that way, it still costs money to headline sponsor a team.

[TheDeuce]

JonChalk said:

R123 & 4WD - valid, but still, given AM's slightly precarious trading position right now, an odd time to add your name to a very precarious season's racing.

I know Stroll's money will bankroll them for a while and Wolff is (possibly) heading that way, it still costs money to headline sponsor a team.

But it wasn't an odd time when they committed to the deal.. And now they are committed still. Also, do we know it costs money in this case to sponsor the team? Given that stroll has a massive interest in both entities, it might not be costing AM any money, he might figure that the money is best left in AM to ease their cashflow and focus on building the AM brand through the teams future successes. Whatever way the money moves, it's still all under his control either way..

[DanielSan]

Given the amount of cash he's put into Aston and his position in the company it's in his interest to have the brand in as many places as possible that are going to give them exposure. Putting the name of a company he's invested his cash into onto his F1 cars won't be an expenditure for either side other than the stickers.

[JonChalk]

TheDeuce said:

JonChalk said:

R123 & 4WD - valid, but still, given AM's slightly precarious trading position right now, an odd time to add your name to a very precarious season's racing.

I know Stroll's money will bankroll them for a while and Wolff is (possibly) heading that way, it still costs money to headline sponsor a team.

But it wasn't an odd time when they committed to the deal.. And now they are committed still. Also, do we know it costs money in this case to sponsor the team? Given that stroll has a massive interest in both entities, it might not be costing AM any money, he might figure that the money is best left in AM to ease their cashflow and focus on building the AM brand through the teams future successes. Whatever way the money moves, it's still all under his control either way..

Mostly agreed, but at some point they're going to need; new merchandise, new hospitality gear, new corporate clothing, new promotional stuff, new transport / trucks, re-done paddock "trailer", etc, etc. That's all money that wouldn't have been spent by either / both AM or RP - again pocket change for Stroll, but would waiting another year for greater AM stability have been better?

[TheDeuce]

JonChalk said:

TheDeuce said:

JonChalk said:

R123 & 4WD - valid, but still, given AM's slightly precarious trading position right now, an odd time to add your name to a very precarious season's racing.

I know Stroll's money will bankroll them for a while and Wolff is (possibly) heading that way, it still costs money to headline sponsor a team.

But it wasn't an odd time when they committed to the deal.. And now they are committed still. Also, do we know it costs money in this case to sponsor the team? Given that stroll has a massive interest in both entities, it might not be costing AM any money, he might figure that the money is best left in AM to ease their cashflow and focus on building the AM brand through the teams future successes. Whatever way the money moves, it's still all under his control either way..

Mostly agreed, but at some point they're going to need; new merchandise, new hospitality gear, new corporate clothing, new promotional stuff, new transport / trucks, re-done paddock "trailer", etc, etc. That's all money that wouldn't have been spent by either / both AM or RP - again pocket change for Stroll, but would waiting another year for greater AM stability have been better?

Possibly it could have been better for AM to hold off, but again it's entirely possible that if Stroll 'let them off' starting when agreed, he would have to let them off the whole thing. Impossible to say without seeing the agreement behind the deal that was done. We know the sponsorship was announced along with the rescue deal, so there is a pre-agreement in place. It could be impractical to change that post deal.

Another way of looking at it, is that both concerns are screwed to an equal extent by the current state of the world. No one is buying an Aston right now, and the sponsors aren't paying the teams (at least beyond their advance first payments) for 2020 because there is no running. From Stroll's perspective, might as well stick to the original timeline and start on hopefully constructing a better image and relevance at AM via some F1 exposure, and trust that in the fullness of time the AM brand will reap the benefits of that, and subsequently down the line so might he. Although there is no denying that whatever his (and perhaps others..) master plan was, it's been royally shafted by CV, or at least severely set back - along with my business and multiple million others businesses too I'm sure!

Edited by TheDeuce on Wednesday 1st April 21:03