Aston Martin owner Lawrence Stroll says the “ingredients are coming together” in his plan to develop a front-running team in Formula 1.
The Silverstone-based outfit has had a woeful start to the 2022 season and currently sits bottom of the Constructors’ standings as the only team yet to score a point.
To make matters worse, Aston Martin had four separate crashes in Australia, two for each driver, raising concerns that the repair bill could eat into their development budget for this year.
LAP 24/58 ⚠️ SAFETY CAR ⚠️
Vettel has hit the wall and stopped on track
A tough weekend for the Aston Martin driver ?#AusGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/JEBFJZGcVz
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 10, 2022
But given Aston was one of the team’s hoping to benefit most from F1’s new regulations and has instead found themselves trailing behind, it has led to questions about if Stroll’s approach is working.
“The car is, so we hear, a disaster,” Ralf Schumacher was quoted by F1-Insider as telling German TV. “And on top of that, apparently the team owner is now also sitting in the meetings and voicing how things should be done. If that’s the case, it gets really, really complicated.”
As a result, Schumacher drew a comparison between the Aston Martin project and Toyota, who entered F1 in the 2000s but never fulfilled their potential.
“The team have lost the thread,” the German continued. “They wanted to achieve too much too quickly and that simply doesn’t work in Formula 1. You can’t just take a lot of people and a lot of money, put them in a pot, stir it briefly and then something good comes out.
“The team wanted to take a bulldozer approach and that didn’t work at Toyota.”
Never afraid to stick the boot in, F1 champion Jacques Villeneuve also criticised his fellow Canadian’s approach.
“Running a team takes more than just money as Lawrence Stroll is now finding out with Aston Martin,” Villeneuve told Formule1.nl.
“It is not a clothing chain or a watch brand because it is much more complicated, especially if you’re running a team for your son. Finding solutions becomes all the more complicated.”
Villeneuve also queried whether driver Sebastian Vettel, who missed the first races due to Covid-19, still has what it takes in F1.
“Vettel is clearly not having a good time, I think he would rather be at home,” he said. “He has also made mistakes at Ferrari, but his shoes this weekend did not suit his stature.”
In contrast, however, Stroll remains optimistic that everything is on track.
“We are hiring brilliant new people every week,” he said. “Our new factory build is coming along very well. We have a fantastic roster of superb sponsor-partners.
“We are about to embark on year two of our five-year plan, the objective of which is to win Formula 1 World Championships.
“All the ingredients we require are coming together. Mike [Krack, new team principal] will play a central and leading role, reporting to [chief executive] Martin Whitmarsh and leading our technical and operational functions, our collective aim is to fulfil those lofty ambitions. We are on our way.”
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