Aston Martin's first Formula One car, the DBR4, was built and tested in 1957 but did not make its championship debut until 1959. The delay resulted from the company prioritising development of the DBR1 sports car, which won the 1959 24 Hours of Le Mans. By the time the DBR4 reached the Dutch Grand Prix, it was already outdated; Carroll Shelby and Roy Salvadori qualified 10th and 13th respectively out of 15, and both retired with engine failures. At the British Grand Prix, Salvadori qualified second but finished sixth, one place outside the points. At the Portuguese Grand Prix both cars finished — sixth and eighth — but still missed points. At the Italian Grand Prix both qualified near the back and Salvadori again retired with an engine failure.
For 1960 Aston Martin introduced the DBR5, a lighter derivative with independent suspension, though its front-mounted engine was a disadvantage against the rear-engined cars then becoming standard. At the Dutch Grand Prix the DBR5 was not ready, so Salvadori drove the spare DBR4, qualified 18th, and the team refused to start after being told they would not be paid. At the British Grand Prix both DBR5s ran; Salvadori retired with steering failure and Maurice Trintignant finished 11th, five laps down. With no championship points scored across two seasons, Aston Martin left Formula One after the 1960 British Grand Prix to return to sports car racing.
Between 2016 and 2020 Aston Martin served as a sponsor for Red Bull Racing, holding title sponsor status from 2018 to 2020. A 2006 attempt by David Richards and Prodrive to enter a new Aston Martin-branded team for 2008 did not come to fruition.
In January 2020, Lawrence Stroll invested in Aston Martin and took a 16.7% stake, leading to the commercial rebrand of his Racing Point F1 Team into Aston Martin F1 Team for 2021. The team's colour scheme changed from BWT pink to British racing green. Cognizant was announced as title sponsor in January 2021. The AMR21, unveiled in March 2021, was the first Aston Martin-branded Formula One car after a 61-year absence. The team has used customer Mercedes power units continuously since 2009 under its various names.
Sebastian Vettel, a four-time World Drivers' Champion previously at Ferrari, replaced Sergio Pérez for 2021, partnering Lance Stroll. Nico Hülkenberg joined as reserve and development driver. Vettel earned the team's first podium in six decades, finishing second at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. A second-place finish at the Hungarian Grand Prix was subsequently disqualified due to a fuel sample issue. In June 2021 team principal Otmar Szafnauer announced an expansion from 535 to 800 employees. Also in June the team announced a partnership with Racing Pride, an NGO promoting LGBTQ+ inclusivity in motorsport. In January 2022, Szafnauer left after twelve years; Mike Krack, with prior experience at BMW and Porsche motorsport, replaced him. In February 2022, Aramco was announced as joint title sponsor; in December 2023 Aramco signed a new five-year exclusive title sponsorship.
Vettel missed the opening two races of 2022 after testing positive for COVID-19, returning at the Australian Grand Prix. He retired after the 2022 season.
Fernando Alonso, a two-time World Champion, joined on a multi-year contract for 2023, replacing Vettel. Stoffel Vandoorne and Felipe Drugovich became test and reserve drivers. Hülkenberg left for Haas F1 Team as a full-time driver. The same driver lineup of Alonso and Lance Stroll continued into 2025. Drugovich departed after signing with Andretti Global's Formula E team for 2025–26. In January 2025, Andy Cowell replaced Krack as team principal.
Construction of a new 37,000 m² facility at Silverstone began in September 2021, comprising three interconnected buildings across a 40-acre site directly opposite the Silverstone Circuit. Building One, housing design, manufacturing, and marketing resources, was completed in July 2023. Building Two, repurposing the original factory as a central hub with staff amenities and logistics, was completed a year later. Building Three, containing a new wind tunnel, was completed in the first week of November 2024; wind tunnel commissioning finished by January 2025 and it became operational mid-March 2025. Aston Martin is the sixth different constructor to operate from the Silverstone base since 1991.
In 2026, Aston Martin began a works partnership with Honda Racing Corporation (HRC). Honda previously supplied Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso (later Scuderia AlphaTauri / Racing Bulls). The partnership provides bespoke power units designed specifically for the Aston Martin chassis and full factory integration between the two partners. The Silverstone-based team had used customer Mercedes engines for seventeen seasons (2009–2025) and had previously run Mugen-Honda engines in 1998–2000 and full Honda units in 2001–2002 when operating as Jordan, as well as Toyota customer engines in 2005 and 2006. For 2026 Aston Martin also produces its own transmission gearbox package for the first time.
Adrian Newey, who left Red Bull Racing in May 2024, signed with Aston Martin in September 2024 and joined the team in March 2025 ahead of the 2026 regulations. Newey became a major shareholder and, going into 2026, took on the role of team principal, with Cowell moving to chief strategy officer. Enrico Cardile was announced as Chief Technical Officer in July 2024 and commenced work officially the following August.
This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.
Gallery · 4 related images
