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Come 2021, it will have been 61 years since the DBR5 raced in Aston Martin’s name in Formula 1. But that number won’t grow to 62, because the historic British automaker announced Friday morning that it will partner with Racing Point F1 Team to be the outfit’s title sponsor in 2021.
The deal came about as part of an investment by a group of investors led by Canadian fashion mogul Lawrence Stroll, father of Racing Point’s racing driver Lance Stroll, who rounded up $657 million to formally take a 16.7-percent stake in Aston Martin on Friday morning. Documents filed with the London Stock Exchange stipulate Aston Martin’s involvement in F1 will be “enhanced” as part of the deal according to Autosport, meaning the team will part ways with its current F1 partner Red Bull Racing at the end of the 2020 season to ally with everyone’s favorite F1 team in pink.
“Aston Martin Lagonda has entered into a legally binding termsheet under which the Racing Point F1 team will become the Aston Martin F1 works team with effect from the 2021 season,” stated the LSE filing. “This agreement is for a 10-year initial term and Aston Martin Lagonda will receive an economic interest in the team.”
Aston Martin will reportedly serve as the team’s title sponsor for at least four years, during which period, the team is anticipated to continue using Mercedes-AMG engines. As the Gaydon-based automaker struggles to keep its finances in the black, it already sources many of its road car engines from the German giant, so developing an in-house F1 engine remains out of the question.
Red Bull Racing and Aston Martin will conclude their sponsorship contract as planned at the end of the 2020 season. The automaker’s new relationship with Racing Point will reportedly not affect the development of the 1,160-horsepower Valkyrie hypercar, whose aerodynamics and other technical systems are heavily influenced by the energy drink-sponsored team.
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