background story
Aston Martin returned to F1 in 2021 sixty-one years after leaving following a disastrous first attempt at the premier class of motorsport in the late 1950s.
The team in its current guise, under the stewardship of Lawrence Stroll, can track its history all the way back to 1991. Jordan, Midland, Spyker, Force India and Racing Point have all come before the luxury car manufacturer at its Silverstone base.
Michael Schumacher, Rubens Barrichello, Damon Hill, Giancarlo Fisichella and Sergio Perez are just a handful of the quality drivers to have passed through the doors to the factory and with Lance Stroll being partnered by four-time champion Sebastian Vettel, hope is high that the team will be projected up the grid.
With 5 victories and 29 podiums since the formation of Jordan, Aston Martin will hope to improve upon the already established legacy.
Aston Martin’s F1 struggles – 1959-1960
In the 1950s, Aston Martin Lagonda was a leading name in the endurance racing circuit. Led by Sir David Brown, produced some exceptional sports cars to compete in the classic endurance races in the late 1940s and 1950s.
The marque took victory in the Spa 24 Hours in 1948 and challenged throughout the 50s for the Le Mans 24 Hours, only to be beaten by Ferrari, Mercedes and the mighty D-type Jaguar.
The competitiveness displayed at the great French race, however, led Brown to develop the manufacturer’s first F1 car – the DBR4 – alongside the DBR1 sportscar for its endurance endeavors.
Brown knew he could not compete toe-to-toe with the Maseratis and Ferraris of the world due to a vast gulf in resources, so developing the two cars at the same time – in theory – would allow Aston Martin to gain some advantage.
Sadly, this proved not to be the case and instead was its undoing. Development on the DBR4 began in 1957 but the car did not appear on a Formula 1 grid until 1959 as focused shifted to the DBR1.
Whilst the sportscar finally took Le Mans glory that season at the hands of Roy Salvadori and Carroll Shelby, with team-mates Paul Frere and Maurice Trintignant following home second, the F1 car was a flop.
Fundamentally, the team had built a good car in the DBR4. Salvadori drove it to second on debut at a non-championship event at Silverstone. But by the time it raced into a recognized grand prix, the front-engine design was outdated and relatively uncompetitive.
Two sixth-place finishes for Salvadori were the best the team could muster in only four starts, whilst the DBR5 built for 1960 – an evolution of the DBR4 – only took to the grid once, with Trintignant placing 11th. The F1 project was immediately shelved.
Jordan – 1991-2004
With a fantastic record in junior formulae Irishman Eddie Jordan took his team into F1 for the 1991 season with Andrea de Cesaris and Bertrand Gachot.
It was a promising first season as the team finished fifth in the championship with fourth-place finishes by Italian de Cesaris in Canada and Mexico the highlights. The team handed Michael Schumacher his F1 debut at the Belgian Grand Prix after Gachot was jailed for an altercation with a taxi driver.
The team couldn’t hold onto the German for the remainder of the season despite a legal battle with Benetton, so both Roberto Moreno and Alessandro Zanardi filled in towards the end of the campaign.
A switch to Yamaha engines brought little success in 1992 with the team as just a single point was scored courtesy of Stefano Modena whilst Barrichello and Eddie Irvine combined to collect the only three points the team would score in 1993 during a year six drivers would pilot the car.
Irvine would be handed a ban at the first race of the 1994 season to rule him out of the subsequent three races, with Aguri Suzuki and de Cesaris taking his seat.
In the second race of the season, Barrichello would almost lose his life during F1’s darkest weekend. Before Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna died in their crashes at Imola, the Brazilian crashed heavily during practice, ruling him out of the race after fast medical work ensured his safety.
Barrichello would return stronger and take Jordan’s first-ever pole position at the Belgian Grand Prix before retiring in the race.
At the 1995 Canadian Grand Prix, Barrichello and Irvine would combine for a two-three finish for Jordan’s first F1 podium finish. Sixth in the championship had the team cemented as an established midfield runner.
It would be another two seasons until podiums returned, courtesy of Ralf Schumacher and Giancarlo Fisichella who shared three top-three finishes between each other in 1997. Fisichella was replaced by former world champion Damon Hill for 1998, who took the first of Jordan’s victories at the chaotic Belgian Grand Prix with his German team-mate second.
In 1999, Hill would be joined by Heinz-Harold Frentzen, who would take two victories during a stellar season. Third in the constructors’ championship was a great reward for the steps made by the team up against powerhouses McLaren-Mercedes and Ferrari.
Fortunes would never be as strong for the team and despite a final fairytale victory for the returned Fisichella at the 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix, Jordan’s F1 stay fizzled out as backmarkers.
The podium earned by Thiago Monteiro in the team’s final season was bittersweet as it came during the famous six-car duel at Indianapolis. Jordan was sold at the end of the season.
Midland and Spyker – 2006-2007
The Midland Group took ownership ahead of 2005 but switched the name of the team for 2006 to Midland F1. Monteiro was retained alongside Christijan Albers. The team finished the season pointless with a best finish of ninth in the attritional Hungarian Grand Prix.
Midland would sell to Dutch car manufacturer Spyker for 2007 as Adrian Sutil replaced Monteiro at the team. A difficult start to the season was made more difficult by the forced release of Albers mid-season. Markus Winkelhock sensationally led during the deluge at the 2007 European Grand Prix before retiring in his first and only F1 race.
Sutil would score a solitary point before the team was sold to Vijay Mallya to become Force India.
Force India – 2008-2018
One of the great underdog stories of F1 is how Force India consistently punched well above its weight to factor as a strong midfield team despite considerably less resources compared to rival teams.
The team scored no points in its debut season although Sutil was left heartbroken after being taken out whilst in fourth at Monaco and whilst 2009 saw struggles continue, Fisichella – who had returned to Silverstone for a third stint – qualified on pole for the Belgian Grand Prix before finishing second for the rebranded team’s first podium.
From 2010 onwards, the team would establish itself as a midfield runner, with Nico Hulkenberg running close to victory in the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix before making contact with Lewis Hamilton.
Podiums would return during the turbo-hybrid era as Force India’s partnership with Mercedes would pay dividends. In fact, Sergio Perez would take all five further podiums for the team between 2014 and 2018 as the team built itself to become the fourth-best team in F1.
However, financial difficulties led the team to administration and expulsion from the championship as a consortium backed by Lawrence Stroll purchased Force India’s assets, rebranding to Racing Point mid-season.
Racing Point and Aston Martin – 2018 Present
Starting from scratch mid-season in 2018, Racing Point Force India scored enough points to finish seventh in the constructors’ championship before becoming Racing Point F1 for 2019.
Lance Stroll replaced Esteban Ocon at the team to partner Perez as the team aimed to build from the foundations left by its previous guise. Stroll Sr began to invest in the infrastructure around the Silverstone base but results would not come quickly. A single fourth-place for Stroll in Germany would be the best result achieved as the team finished seventh in the standings.
A technical link-up with Mercedes would lead to stunning speed in 2020. Four podiums shared between Perez and Stroll put the team right in the battle for third in the standings, although ultimately a points deduction for a design infringement concerning brake ducts would promote McLaren ahead of them.
Perez would take a stunning victory at the Sakhir Grand Prix, fighting back from last after contact on lap one, to give him the perfect send-off from the team he would leave at the end of the season. It was announced the team would be rebranded once again ahead of 2021, with the introduction of Aston Martin to the team.
Sebastian Vettel was announced as Stroll’s team-mate in the hope Aston Martin can be pushed to the front of the pack.
The team struggled to continue its 2021 form, however and slipped behind AlphaTauri into the seventh in the constructors’ standings despite Vettel’s podium in Azerbaijan.
