Season results: Aston Martin – all Formula 1 news 2023

Lawrence Stroll is right. Serious investments and the invitation of Fernando Alonso allowed the team to achieve fifth place in the Constructors’ Championship.

It is often said that success in Formula 1 cannot be achieved with money – many have tried this, but Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll (Lawrence Sheldon Strulovitch) has been successfully proving the opposite for several years. There were many more billionaires in Formula 1 than successful teams.

In 2018, Stroll Sr. purchased Force India, in 2020 he became owner of the Aston Martin brand, renamed the team and invested in its development and personnel, invited many high-profile employees from other teams, and in 2022 he lured Fernando Alonso away from Alps.

A new base has been built at Silverstone – the most modern in current Formula 1 and the first in Northamptonshire following the launch of the McLaren technology center in Woking. Year after year, Lawrence moved toward his vision and with each step the team was able to make progress. Stroll is one of the most respected people in the paddock. Everyone knows that he came seriously and for a long time.

Mike Krak led the team into the new season. After the termination of his contract with Otmar Szafnauer, he was invited to the position of team leader at Aston Martin, having previously led the sports program of BMW and Porsche, and before that he worked for ten years in Formula 1 – at Sauber, and then at BMW Sauber. Former McLaren CEO Martin Whitmarsh has become CEO.

Sebastian Vettel has said more than once that he had been thinking about leaving for a long time, but Lawrence convinced him to stay with the team for the first season after the rule change, and in 2023 Fernando Alonso became the teammate of team owner Lance’s son Stroll.

The team had a great start to the season. The car was fast, in the first three races Alonso climbed to the podium – and everyone started talking that Aston Martin could set itself the highest goals this season. After the fifth stage – the Monaco Grand Prix – the team was in second place in the Constructors’ Championship, second behind Red Bull Racing and ahead of all other teams with Mercedes powerplants.

The Mercedes factory team did not hide their jealousy, because a few years ago Aston Martin simply copied their solutions, but now they built the car themselves – and a faster one at the start of the season.

Alonso was happy. He experienced a wave of success and felt like favorite again after a disappointing year at Alpine. Everyone said that this time the Spaniard was finally right with the team change.

Compared to him, Lance Stroll looked pale. The Canadian himself understood that he had nothing against Fernando, although the team did everything possible for him. He looked good, but lost more and more with every race. Alonso is a very difficult partner. His motivation is to be the best at everything, and he almost always succeeds. Not only did it work in 2007, when his very young teammate Lewis Hamilton preceded him in his debut season at McLaren, but we still remember what kind of season it was.

The most successful race for Aston Martin took place in Australia: 27 points per stage to Alonso’s third place and Stroll’s fourth. But the team also performed consistently successfully with other teams, often earning points with two cars and ultimately losing only to the “monsters” – Red Bull, Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren. The battle with McLaren continued to the last, but a pair of failures for Aston Martin at the end of the season prevented them from clinging to fourth place.

The team switched early to preparing for the next season. There is no turning back, now all you have to do is move forward, and with each step this will become more and more difficult.

Let’s see if Lawrence Stroll has enough strength and motivation. Many people advise him to fire his son and hire a more experienced driver who can earn more points, but he has worked for years to build this most expensive toy in the world for his son, so if they leave, it will probably be together , and with considerable benefits. The team is successful!