Aston Martin and Red Bull Join Forces for F1 2018

[Andrew Harper]

edited: A car company of which i am not even quite sure who owns them and why, becoming the primary sponsor of a racing team run by an energy drink, what a world we live in.

Anyone will sponsor F1 if they can....

 

[arniesan]

Anyone will sponsor F1 if they can....

Well blow me.

 

[wombat999]

The 'Infiniti' decals (crap car BTW!) are on the Red Bulls because Nissan and Renault are partners.
Why AM need to involve themselves in the shambles that is F1 escapes me.

 

[Richard Dastardly]

AM was in F1 in 1959/1960 ( and did rather badly ), so it's not like they've *always* been about sportscars. This does seem an odd move though.

Not fond of AM using other people's engines either, it's not like their own engines have been terrible...

 

[wombat999]

AM had some decent engines but their gearboxes were rubbish!
And while their F1 cars looked and sounded great, like Scarab, they were two years behind the curve.
Pretty cars but.

 

[Andrew Harper]

This does seem an odd move though.

The only thing that did occur to me is Aston are still partially funded by oil money. Which is fine of course. However it seems to me that F1 is seen as the ultimate form of motorsport in that part of the world. They are the events to be seen at, they are the ultimate form of sporting glamour. Now whether the "money" part of the Aston ownership has instigated this deal I don't know.

....but just thinking out loud

Sorry matey I wasn't aware of the brief F1 involvement thanks for telling me but I think you know where I come from with regards to their heritage and background

I still think they could create one seriously sexy DPi car though

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

they have a car engine development programme with a certain company called Mercedes ....

and this is where it seriously stops making sense. Feels like the ridiculous "Lotus" branding of years past, where the cars were anything but Lotus if I remember correctly.

 

[Andrew Harper]

and this is where it seriously stops making sense. Feels like the ridiculous "Lotus" branding of years past, where the cars were anything but Lotus if I remember correctly.

Yes I know, I just wondered that somewhere down the line we may see F1 Mercedes engines rebranded as Aston Martin? On the Red Bull cars I mean. The relationship between Aston and Mercedes in road car terms is still pretty young (Aston use their engine tech and their electronic systems to save money) but it did make me wonder (for a second or two at least...)

 

[arniesan]

F1 is a supporters sport.
You can support a "Works Team," a "Maverick Team," or just a "Driver." It makes no odds, you get the enjoyment you want. , or not.

 

[Theo Berrekeman]

The first Aston Martin Red Bull Racing RB14 concept design car i found...
Looks amazing!

Please share your thoughts:
http://www.racedepartment.com/threads/rb14-red-bull-aston-martin-design.141585/

 

[Richard Dastardly]

I still think they could create one seriously sexy DPi car though

Even better a LMP1, as another backdoor way to get Mercedes into sports prototypes again... if only they'd thought of that for *this* year. Mercedes, Porsche, Toyota all in top line sports prototype racing again? oh my. Sadly, ship sailed for a while.

 

[Andrew Harper]

Even better a LMP1, as another backdoor way to get Mercedes into sports prototypes again... if only they'd thought of that for *this* year. Mercedes, Porsche, Toyota all in top line sports prototype racing again? oh my. Sadly, ship sailed for a while.

Yes I agree, I was just thinking that from a budget point of view a DPi would be more suitable for them. Also from a marketing point of view, America is a market they would want to target.

It also reminds me a little of the Lola-Aston program which is in a way is very similar to the DPi regs

The last LMP1 car they created was a total disaster (and I say that as an Aston fan) so not sure what their view on another LMP1 project would be but they certainly took too many radical design choices with that car, a bit like what Nissan did with their program.

I think if the LMP1 class went back to N/A or turbo they might be interested but at the moment with hybrid programs costing tens of millions I can't see it happening. Cost caps are great in principle but are difficult to implement.

Would be lovely to see them back in a prototype car though.

 

[Richard Dastardly]

The last LMP1 car they created was a total disaster (and I say that as an Aston fan) so not sure what their view on another LMP1 project would be but they certainly took too many radical design choices with that car, a bit like what Nissan did with their program.

I think if the LMP1 class went back to N/A or turbo they might be interested but at the moment with hybrid programs costing tens of millions I can't see it happening. Cost caps are great in principle but are difficult to implement.

Would be lovely to see them back in a prototype car though.

I am trying to think of the last successful AM prototype - the DBR1? 1959? the Nimrod was a failure, the AMR1 looked & sounded fantastic but was a failure & the Lola based cars didn't really do much. Thing is, these were all other people's chassis with AM engines, but now AM has given up engines... so what does AM bring now? this'd be the same with DPi, they'd just be badge-engineered Merc engines which makes me rather sad. Why brand them as AM, anyway? I'd think either Mercedes or AMG would be happy to sell engines under their own brand for DPi. Then again this whole AM branding for F1 seems wierd enough that I guess I could see it. I am really hoping Aston won't be demoted to being the works sporting face of Mercedes, though, that would be a sad state of affairs.

 

[Andrew Harper]

Lola based cars didn't really do much

I agree with you but the Lola Astons did do pretty well, they did win races with it, but yes the full LMP1 program just didn't work at all.

The Lola Aston is one of my favorite race cars anyway so I'm biased, lol

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

it's all down to just a name, which is a pity.