Aston Martin are trending in the wrong direction for the successive season. And it seems billionaire team owner Lawrence Stroll is starting to lose his patience.
In 2023, Aston made a fantastic start to the campaign. Through Fernando Alonso, they scored a podium in each of the first three races, and six of the first eight overall.
Alonso even came close to winning the Monaco Grand Prix, and also finished second in Canada. After that race in Montreal, he was third in the drivers’ standings on 117 points, with his team in the same position in the constructors’ behind Red Bull and Mercedes.
But in the 14 races that followed, the two-time world champion would only finish in the top three twice more. He managed to hold onto fourth in the standings despite only scoring 89 points in that period, but Aston as a team fell to fifth.
The problem was that they were out-developed by their rivals. McLaren in particular mounted a remarkable charge towards the front of the grid after starting the year near the back.
While Aston weren’t able to add any more trophies to their cabinet at the start of this year, they still made a solid start. Between Alonso and teammate Lance Stroll, they bagged three top-six finishes in the first four events.
But now the Silverstone outfit appear to be on a worrying path. They have just scored four points across the last three weekends, and for the first time all season, neither of their cars finished in the top 10 at Monaco.
Aston Martin eye Mattia Binotto as Mike Krack replacement
Aston would have hoped to put pressure on Red Bull this season, just as Ferrari and McLaren have done in recent races. Instead, they find themselves 140 points adrift of the top three and they’re also falling away from Mercedes in fourth (52-point gap).
If anything, they need to be looking over their shoulder at RB. Thanks to the fine form of Yuki Tsunoda, the Red Bull junior team have started to close in.
In these circumstances, Stroll is set to take action. According to journalist Leo Turrini on the QN Motori site, he will ‘soon’ make a change in the team principal position.
Mike Krack is likely to lose that role, with Stroll in contact over former Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto. Krack succeeded Otmar Szafnauer at the start of 2022, while he oversaw a big jump in the team’s competitiveness last term, his owner is clearly concerned about the direction of travel.
Binotto, meanwhile, spent three years in the corresponding post at Ferrari. During that time, Ferrari won six races, and briefly threatened to challenge Red Bull for the title in 2022 before strategic errors and on-track blunders from Charles Leclerc cost them.
Lawrence Stroll wants Ferrari engineer Enrico Cardile
Stroll’s ambition is abundantly clear. He’s not satisfied with simply leading the midfield – he wants to establish Aston Martin as a race-winning, and eventually championship-winning, F1 team.
He’ll be pinning his hopes on the 2026 regulation changes, which could reshape the running order. He’s already struck an exclusive engine deal with Japanese giants Honda, who have helped Red Bull to achieve their recent dominance.
After tying down star driver Alonso, he also wants to assemble a group of elite personnel behind the scenes. He made a giant, £407k-a-week offer to Adrian Newey, the legendary designer who’s leaving Red Bull at the start of next year.
But while Newey is likely to join Ferrari instead, that could open up another door. Stroll is pushing to sign the Scuderia’s technical director Enrico Cardile in the hope that he’s unsettled by the prospect of Newey’s arrival.
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