Exclusive: Aston Martin owner Stroll hints Andretti won’t get F1 spot
Aston Martin owner Lawrence Stroll has cast doubt on whether Andretti Motorsport will ever take their place on the Formula 1 grid and urged the sport to stick with a 10-team set-up.
Stroll told Morning Wire that the current grid format is not broken and that the best way in for prospective owners is to buy an existing team, as he did with Force India.
The comments raise questions about Andretti’s hopes of entering F1 after motorsport’s governing body, the FIA, gave the American IndyCar brand its blessing.
“I am not so sure we are going to see them on the grid,” Stroll said. “He got approved by the FIA, however he also needs the FOM [Formula One Management] to vote in favour, and so he’s far from on the track just yet.
“I think 10 teams is the right amount of teams in Formula 1 today. The sport has never been in a better place than it is right now, it couldn’t have more popularity and couldn’t be more successful and it is very simple, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Stroll: Just buy a team
“It is working very well with what we have. The thing [people who want to be in the sport should do] is to buy a team. Whether it is NFL or soccer, you get into a sport by buying a team.
“It is a very expensive proposition and once you have a team, it’s about putting the right management, finances and infrastructure in place.”
Stroll also confirmed that his son Lance and Fernando Alonso will keep their seats next season and announced Aston Martin’s return to the top class of Le Mans racing with their Valkyrie model.
It means Aston Martin’s racing arm, owned by Stroll, will have entries in multiple classes of track and endurance racing. Stroll also recently increased his and his consortium’s share in parent company Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC to 26 per cent, maintaining his position as the organisation’s biggest shareholder.
Aston Martin have improved on track over the last 12 months, securing seven podiums through Alonso, with new budget caps closing the gap to the bigger legacy teams.
“The budget caps that came into place have really levelled the playing field, and now it is a matter of who is doing a better job,” Stroll added.
“The reason a team is in front is because they’re doing a better job, they cannot have more resources and bigger budgets so I take my hat off to who is doing well. It’s not like it was before the budget cap.”