A LESSON OF HISTORY
PICTURES
AN ICONIC BRITISH sportscar brand with a rich motor racing heritage. An ambitious owner deciding that the best way to achieve success in Formula 1 is to buy an independent team with a race-winning pedigree, rebrand it in racing green, with a star Ferrari driver slotted in for good measure. The team is launched to much fanfare and attention. Britain’s answer to Ferrari.
Except seventh in the constructors’ championship is nothing to write home about, and all this new venture can manage. The role of team principal is unenviable, ultimately untenable. Management changes become the order of the day.
Such was the Jaguar Racing Formula 1 team. Any similarities with the Aston Martin F1 team are purely coincidental.
Ford’s purchase of Stewart Grand Prix, rebranding it as Jaguar, with Eddie Irvine joining from Ferrari, is echoed by Lawrence Stroll’s decision to buy the team formerly known as Jordan, now renamed Aston Martin and featuring another Maranello old boy: Sebastian Vettel.
After mirroring Jaguar’s best-ever seventh in the world championship for constructors last year, Aston Martin was hoping for better things this season. Dreams of early success in 2022 have been dashed, starting with Vettel missing the first two rounds thanks to COVID-19.
Round three of this year’s competition, in Melbourne, summed up how things are going. In first practice, Vettel’s car ground to a halt, smoke billowing from the back. His decision to return
