Who will drive for Aston Martin in Formula 1?
Stroll will have Vettel alongside him in 2022 as well. The four-time world champion is a reliable force at Aston Martin and should ensure that the team's level continues to rise. It seems to be a smart move for the team to keep the two drivers together in order to build on 2021.
Jordan, Midland and Spyker
Jordan Grand Prix appeared on the grid in 1991, with Eddie Jordan as the owner. With a different engine from a different supplier in the back almost every year, the team managed to secure a midfield place in the nineties. In 1999, the team's best result came when Damon Hill and Heinz-Harald Frentzen took third place in the Constructors' standings. Frentzen was clearly the better of the two, with two wins and six podiums.
After the turn of the millennium, poor results and financial problems piled up and the bomb burst after 2004. The team was bought, kept the name Jordan Grand Prix in 2005, but was renamed Midland F1 Racing one season later. Dutchman Christijan Albers and Portugueseman Tiago Monteiro formed the driving duo in the single year that Midland appeared on the grid.
With an orange livery, the Spyker Cars appeared on the grid in the 2007 season with Michiel Mol as director of the team. However, this name change was not accompanied by a much better financial situation either, and Spyker F1 disappeared after just one point in 2007. Mol and Vijay Mallya took over the team and renamed it Force India.
Best of the rest
Achieving success in Formula 1 usually takes time and, in the case of Force India, many seasons. In 2008, the team failed to score a single championship point, but in the years that followed, the number slowly rose.
With Adrian Sutil as a permanent fixture, the team established itself in the mid-table, before swapping the German for Hulkenberg. One season later, the team reversed the switch, but Hulkenberg then returned and stayed for a significant period of time alongside Sergio Perez.
Force India took advantage of Mercedes' powerful engine in the back of the car (the German manufacturer have been dominant from the start of the hybrid V6 era) and secured a place at the front of the midfield. In the final year that Hulkenberg and Perez formed the driving duo, they finished fourth in the constructors' standings.
Another change
In 2018, financial problems began to become more prominent, visible to outsiders. Updates to the car failed to materialise and Ocon and Perez had to drive extremely carefully to avoid damaging new parts. Spare parts were not available. Despite a podium at the Azerbaijan GP, Force India's hopes were dashed mid-season.
The team appointed a new owner during the race weekend in Belgium, but not the expected Rich Energy. The energy drink manufacturer was sidelined and Lawrence Stroll, father of Williams driver Lance Stroll, came to lead the team. Together with some other investors he bought Force India and renamed it Racing Point.
Under the name Racing Point Force India F1 Team the cars appeared at the start of the Belgian GP and the team scored points immediately after a chaotic start. All the points Force India had scored up to that point were wiped out. After the weekend in the Ardennes, the new team started the season in seventh place. After that season, Ocon had to make way for Stroll.
Copywriting scandal and Aston Martin takeover
In 2019, Stroll and Perez set out to have a good debut year for Racing Point, but failed to achieve a podium. In 2020, both drivers had better luck. That was partly due to copying Mercedes parts for their own cars, which clearly carried over into the results in the first four races. According to Renault and McLaren, this was not allowed. They therefore made a protest and were proved right. Racing Point received a fine of 400,000 euro and fifteen points deduction in Silverstone.
Perez eventually won the Sakhir GP and Stroll finished third in the same race. Four podiums and a fourth place in the championship proved to be the maximum achievable. Meanwhile, Lawrence Stroll bought a large portion of the shares of Aston Martin. The British carmaker had been linked with Formula 1 for some time through Red Bull Racing, but Stroll's investment seemed to create an individual team.
Which engine will Aston Martin use in Formula 1?
Since 2009, Force India used a Mercedes engine. That contract continued during the switch to hybrid engines. As a customer team it has been very successful and it would like to continue in that vein.
