In January 2020, Lawrence Stroll, the team owner of Racing Point F1, along with a consortium of investors became a shareholder of Aston Martin Lagonda, and he will soon take over on the role of executive chairman of the company. He recently spoke out about Aston’s future strategy in a video released as a replacement for the postponed Geneva Motor Show and launch of the new V12 Speedster. 

Due to the takeover of Stroll, the contract between Aston Martin and Red Bull Racing has been cancelled from the season of 2021, and it can be expected that the Racing Point F1 team will be rebranded to fit the new strategy. The new chairman said that the F1 programme is the foundation of the marketing plans for Aston Martin. 

As Stroll said: ”The foundation of the strategy is returning Aston Martin to a works F1 team on the grid for 2021, operating under its own brand, enabling it to reach cumulative audiences of two billion people a year, and to engage and entertain our customers at 22 locations. It's very exciting for all the parties, and should underpin the building of our brand globally, and allow us to achieve our ambition that Aston Martin will become a pre-eminent luxury goods brand globally.” 

Recently Racing Point F1 boss Otmar Szafnauer revealed that around a 100 of the Aston designers who previously worked at the Red Bull Technology will transfer to the new F1 facility that will have its base in Silverstone, when the works will be completed next year. The reason behind it is the creation of Aston Martin’s Valhalla supercar that has been made in cooperation with the Red Bull Technology, and it’s set to debut in 2021. Lawrence Stroll explained he wants more of Aston Martin background in motorsport back, and should compete under its own brand not in a conjunction with another entity. 

As he said: “Being a racer at heart, the DNA of this company that always attracted me to Aston Martin was when in 1913 Lionel Martin drove up Aston Hill. That is what this company is all about. It's about its racing heritage, its racing history, that then helped through those technologies to develop these great cars. I feel Aston has really missed having a mid-engine programme, having that DNA in their blood.” He added: "And now with the opportunity of returning to a works F1 team in '21, to be able to share technology from our F1 team with our road car projects, I think this is the final cherry on the cake that Aston Martin needed to complete its range, and come back to its roots of racing."