The History of Aston Martin in Formula 1
General
Aston Martin will return to Formula 1 this year, taking the place of Racing Point. From their debut in the '50s to their sponsorship of Red Bull, here's the lowdown of Aston Martin's return to the grid.
Their only spell as a constructor came in the 1950s. They made their debut at the 1959 Dutch Grand Prix, two years after their DBR4 car was first build having focused on the 24 Hours of Le Mans which they won with their DBR1.
They returned with a lighter car, the DBR5 in 1960 but it wasn't ready and they only entered one car to the Dutch Grand Prix, with Roy Salvadori racing in a spare version of the DBR4. However, F1 refused to pay them and they refused to race. After their next entry at the British Grand Prix they withdrew from the sport, with zero points and only six race entries.
50 years later David Richards suggested a possible return for Aston Martin but nothing ever came of it and they would not be seen in F1 until 2016.
Between 2016 and 2020 Aston Martin sponsored Red Bull, even acting as title sponsor from 2018. They oversaw Max Verstappen's first-ever win on his Red Bull debut, Ricciardo's Monaco win in 2018, and Verstappen's first pole a year later!
In 2018 Lance Stroll led the Racing Point UK consortium in their purchase of the Force India team. After a few successful years including a first win for Sergio Perez, it was announced Racing Point would rebrand as Aston Martin after Stroll had acquired a stake in the company in January 2020.
Sebastian Vettel was brought in to lead the team into a new era. And that's where we are now, Vettel has finally got into the cockpit of an Aston Martin F1 car as they prepare to return to the grid.