In what will come to little surprise to anyone that is keeping up to tabs with Formula One over the winter break, Racing Point will become Aston Martin Racing from 2021, ending their sponsorship and Formula One involvement with the Red Bull Racing.

Rumours started a while back about the possibility of Laurence Stroll purchasing a share in Aston Martin, and it has been confirmed that Stroll has purchased a 16.71% share in the British car company, with his consortium investing £182 million into Aston Martin.

The Aston Martin brand has struggled in recent years have release plans to raise £500 million emergency funding, with this deal getting the ball rolling for the luxury car brand.

The company, most famous for producing the cars used in the James Bond movies will end their Formula One involvement with Red Bull Racing at the end of the 2020 season, but both parties will continue their technological partnership in producing the Aston Martin Valkyrie hypercar, which took to the track at the 2019 Rolex British Grand Prix for a demonstration run.

This also somewhat dispels the rumours that Stroll and Toto Wolff were going to buy out the Mercedes AMG-Petronas team if they decided to withdraw from the sport at the end of the season, however there are rumours that Aston Martin Racing and Mercedes Formula One will have a closer working partnership, with the Brackley based team supplying the engines for the Silverstone based team.

Speaking to the press, Stroll said: “On completion of the £500m of fundraising I look forward to working with the Board and management team in Aston Martin Lagonda to review and improve each aspect of the company’s operations and marketing; to continue to invest in the development of new models and technologies and to start to rebalance production to prioritise demand over supply. 

“I, and my partners, firmly believe that Aston Martin is one of the great global luxury car brands. I believe that this combination of capital and my experience of both the motor industry and building highly successful global brands will mean that, over time, we fulfil Aston Martin Lagonda’s potential.” 

Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer said: “Mr. Stroll brings strong and proven expertise in both automotive and luxury brands more widely which we believe will be of significant benefit to Aston Martin Lagonda.”

He added “We have also announced plans to leverage a new motorsport collaboration with Racing Point to enhance the execution of the plan.  I would like to thank Red Bull Racing, who we will continue to sponsor this year, for their partnership and support in us being able to say this today.”

A statement from Red Bull read: “Following the Aston Martin Lagonda announcement earlier today, the Team can confirm that the manufacturer will remain title partner until the end of the 2020 season but this contract will not be extended past the end of the current term. 

“Red Bull Racing has agreed to release Aston Martin from its Formula One exclusivity clause which in turn has allowed it to generate the necessary investment required to re-finance and pursue alternative opportunities within the sport.”We thank Aston Martin for their support over the past four years in which time we have achieved 12 wins, 50 podiums and six pole positions together. We wish Aston Martin’s employees and shareholders all the best for the future and our focus remains on working together throughout the 2020 season and ending our partnership on a high.”

Personally, I believe that this is a good move for Formula One. Aston Martin brought the famous name to the sport with Red Bull, although it was only a title sponsorship. This is just a renaming of the Racing Point team for now, but once Aston Martin can solve their financial issues, the team may become a full blown works manufacturer. The possibility of the team running the British Racing Green livery is exciting and with the deal running for at least ten years, this could be a turning point for Formula One’s underdog team.