After owner Lawrence Stroll made his ambitions to become world champions in the next three to five years clear, he understands that the team couldn’t carry on as it was.
Though Aston Martin is still operated out of the Silverstone facilities that hosted the 1991 Jordan Grand Prix, Aston Martin has left its increasing reliance on temporary offices in a state where, when things are really serious, winning world titles , is no longer suitable for its purpose.
As a result, Stroll has signed an ambitious 400,000 square foot campus plan to be built around the current site on the land he has acquired.
This includes a factory, wind tunnel, conference center, auditorium, heritage department and other offices.
Not only is it fully sustainable, but it will also have state-of-the-art 5G facilities and the latest technology to ensure Aston Martin can be at the forefront of the latest advances.
With an estimated final cost of between £ 150 million and £ 200 million, it is hoped the team can move in in late 2022 or early 2023.
The Aston Martin plant will be the first completely new factory in Formula 1 since the McLaren Technology Center opened in 2004.
But while the famed MTC was laid out in Ron Dennis’s vision as a truly spectacular letter of intent for the Woking-based company, there is an argument that fashion comes before function.
While it still looks amazing, it is referred to as having a sometimes sterile atmosphere inside and sometimes struggles to adapt to the rapidly changing needs of a modern F1 and automotive operation despite its immense size.
Stroll sees his vision for the Aston Martin campus as the complete opposite – a place that is not designed because it looks good, but because it offers exactly what the employees need.
That means better communication, accelerated processes to advance vehicle development, and a system that is large enough for the 1000 employees that Stroll wants to have on board over the next few years.
In a conversation with selected media outlets about the new factory, Stroll said: “This is the opposite of what Ron Dennis did [architect] Norman Foster with the McLaren Technology Center.
“This is a business, these are factories and a campus suitable for its purpose of conforming to the DNA and culture of ourselves, our history.
“The purpose it was built for is to be efficient and streamlined. And again everyone is sitting side by side under one roof.
“This takes into account the new financial rules and also takes into account where we think this sport will go in the future.
“So that we can build more bays, if we want, we can also shrink: not by making the building smaller, but by moving people closer together. This is a building that really represents our image, our culture and our DNA. “
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Stroll realizes that without pushing the new factory, Aston Martin would have had a hard time keeping up with the advancements he’d like to see on the track.
“It would have been really difficult with the current factory,” he said. “We’re just adding these temporary offices, small buildings that you put on the floor to accommodate the ever-growing workforce that we have.
“The communication is not the best because everyone is spread out in different parts of the factory. So improving communication and research development, design, was a necessity.
“With the existing premises, we could not continue to grow to the number of employees I want to grow to. Not possible.”
But in addition to the clear advantages that Stroll sees through the new campus for the employees of Aston Martin, it is also clear how much he is committed to the F1 project.
Since the Silverstone-based team has gone through a number of owners in its time since Eddie Jordan sold out – under his Midland, Spyker, and Force India eras – Stroll says he intends to be around for the long term.
“It’s a long-term investment,” he said. “No offense to my predecessors, none of them have my story or the track record that I had.
“I’m clearly passionate about that. This is a great business opportunity. I see Formula 1 as a business asset for every single team that will be greatly appreciated in the years to come.
“It’s no different from other sports when you look at an NFL football team, for example. Ten years ago an NFL football team was worth a billion dollars, but today you can’t buy a franchise for less than $ 4 or 5 billion. So this is a long term plan.
“With this I plan to get involved, because I am still a young man, I think I will be at least for many, many years. You are not making that kind of investment and this plan of withdrawing in any way. “
And while Liberty’s F1 era is dominated by its attempts to improve the playing field in terms of finances and performance, Stroll understands that there is still no cost-effective way to get to the top of the grid.
If you want to get to the top in Formula 1, you have to dig into your pocket.
“I think money always speaks very loudly, doesn’t it? And it will go on, ”he said.
“We all know the budget cap, and we are all very realistic about all of these exclusions that are not included in the budget cap.
“For us, this campus was long overdue. Covid will cost us another two years, otherwise we would already be finished or about to be completed.
“But to win what I’m here for, you need this tool 100 percent.
“To win, you need the right leadership and vision that I believe I will bring. You need the finances to afford it, you need the best people in the business, and you need to give them the best tools and processes.
“We already have a lot of great people, but this provides the tools and processes to recruit those we don’t.
“I can also give them my guidance and the guidance and leadership of the senior management team to make all of our dreams come true.”
Aston Martin campus
Photo by: Aston Martin Racing
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