The team now known as Racing Point planned to make the move during the summer break of next year, but the COVID-19 crisis has delayed work on the new facility, which is due to be built on land adjacent to the current building .
Instead of trying to move in winter, the team decided to wait a full year for the following August.
“The factory is still running,” said team boss Otmar Szafnauer to Motorsport.com. “We’re going to build it the way we need it, for competitiveness, because we’re going to be Aston Martin, because this place has been around since 1990 and we have outgrown it.
“The only thing is that the coronavirus has moved it pretty sideways from a time perspective. We couldn’t do much.
“That is why we decided to move the date for moving into the new factory either by the three or four months that we have postponed since the beginning of March, or simply by a whole year.
“August is the right time to move in, because it is traditionally the summer break. We wanted to move in August 2021, and we will only postpone that for a year and move in August 2022. “
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Szafnauer says the team will make good use of the delay.
“This will probably give us five or six months more time, and that will be used to get more competitive bids to build and make sure the plans are more detailed. When you have more detailed plans, your cost estimate will usually be more accurate and you can make better decisions.
“Now that the virus is with us too, I don’t know what the future will bring – I don’t know if we will have social distancing forever or if we have plexiglass cubes around every employee.
“We have to look at all of this just in case there is never a vaccine. And that gives us time to look at these things and take some of these precautions, just in case.
“The extra time only helps us get more detailed work done, which should help save costs.”
Since the plans were first sketched out, the team has made room for the Aston Martin road vehicle design group, which will be moving from their current home at Red Bull Technology.
“This is where the design team will be based, and from there there will also be a hub and a marketing center,” said Szafnauer. “Maybe you can even come here and see the F1 team and configure your new road car. It will be a nice campus for Aston Martin. “
Racing Point factory
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Photo by: Racing Point
Racing Point factory
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Photo by: Racing Point
Racing Point factory
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Photo by: Racing Point
Racing Point factory
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Photo by: Racing Point
Racing Point factory
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Photo by: Racing Point
