When Lawrence Stroll successfully manoeuvred to get the Aston Martin name back on the Formula 1 grid for 2021, consecutive finishes of seventh were hardly the type of grandiose return on his investment that was widely expected.
After all, the Silverstone-based squad was coming off the back of its most successful season in the sport to date, registering a maiden win and three further podiums as it matched its previous best finish of fourth in the Constructors’ standings.
Although only a rebrand by identity above the door, the latest – and most historic – name change in the side’s history was meant to take it on beyond that and propel it to the next level.
However, the return of Aston Martin to the highest echelon of single-seater motor racing proved to be about as unspectacular as the iconic British marque’s debut entry into the series during the mid-1950s.
Despite the acquisition of four-time world champion and 53-time F1 race winner Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin, like engine supplier Mercedes, was caught out by a minor but significant alteration to the technical rules that hit it harder than its competitors.
The green-liveried outfit slipped back three places in the points standings and scored a massive 118 points less – although Vettel did achieve the feat of claiming Aston Martin’s first-ever F1 podium.
Despite its regression down the order, there remained little reason to panic as the impending introduction of an overhaul to the regulations presented the entire grid with a clean slate.
For a team that became synonymous with utilising its cash-strapped resources under previous guises, the investment brought to the table by the senior Stroll has allowed the side to operate right on the brink of the cost cap since the regulation was introduced to the sport at the start of the 2021 season.
Whereas previously the team had been populously recognised as a plucky underdog in the days of Jordan and Force India, the transition to Aston Martin and the attempts to perform like a big team had the undesired impact of creating a side unrecognisable from its formative years.
Trouble immediately appeared on the cards even in the infant stages last year, when the technical team outlined the car at testing resembled nothing like the one that was in the wind tunnel.
The situation became so disastrous that Aston Martin sat bottom of the pile as the only team yet to score a point after the opening three rounds; thankfully, a double points haul next time out in Imola would be the beginning of the team’s fortunes beginning to reverse for the better.
A late-season charge would witness them come within a whisker of overhauling Alfa Romeo for sixth place in the teams’ championship. But ending up a sizeable 118 points behind the highest-placed midfield team, Alpine, hardly marked a successful campaign overall for the British outfit.
That sort of stagnant progress forced the sudden retirement of Vettel from the sport, but the ambition of the team couldn’t be faulted with the capture of Fernando Alonso to fill the void.
Since the Spaniard sealed his latest move, he has continuously spoken about the potential within the team and truly believes it is the place where his dreams of clinching a third F1 championship can be realised.
Such words of prospective encouragement have repeatedly been a theme emanating from Silverstone since the transformation into the Aston Martin name.
However, too often it has flattered to deceive and – after years of disappointment – the time has run out for excuses and the team must now deliver on the promise it has only shown in glimpses thus far.
Advancing up the order to the front of the midfield must be its minimum expectation in the second year for the latest technical rules in place.
From the vast resources available to its widespread technical recruitment drive, Aston Martin has everything in place to achieve that goal and its 2023 challenger has been boosted by the extensive input its technical director Dan Fallows has brought from Red Bull.
Unlike many other teams who have opted to develop an evolution upon its cars from last season, Aston Martin has admitted to changing 90% of its package for this year.
After wind tunnel numbers suggested they could even eclipse the midfield group entirely, pre-season testing in Bahrain appeared to be hugely encouraging for Aston Martin.
The AMR23 looked competitive in performance runs and even stronger across the race simulations Alonso conducted, arousing speculation that the team could be even ahead of Mercedes as the third-best side.
The steps being taken to get into a competitive position and mix it at the front makes Aston Martin one of the most exciting projects to track across all of motorsport. But with that comes added expectation and it has only intensified with the eye-opening times set in testing.
Managing to do what no other midfield-operating team has done in the turbo-hybrid era in emerging from the midfield pack and contesting the podium places frequently would mark a tremendous turnaround of unexpected proportions for the Silverstone-residing entity.
Points aren’t handed out in testing, however, and the team needs to produce the goods when the racing gets underway to avoid becoming a similar story to another green-liveried team from the past: the disastrously ran Ford-owned Jaguar venture at the turn of the millennium.
The addition of a driver like Alonso, who is renowned for wringing the neck of any machine he is equipped with, will expose the competitiveness of the car; there aren’t many better drivers in the history of the sport Aston Martin could want to identify the on-track progress it’s making.
Undoubtedly, all things considered, 2023 will mark the biggest season in Aston Martin’s brief second-string F1 journey so far. The team received a lucky break that Alonso only effectively became available due to the mismanagement of its drivers at the rival Alpine side midway through last year.
A ruthless individual with the serial winner mindset that Alonso possesses won’t be satisfied until he is equipped with a package that can get him fighting for the top step of the podium.
While pre-season may have enthused the Spaniard further, Alonso will still be wanting more, and Aston Martin must ensure it builds upon its seemingly promising early-season pace to eventually get into a position to topple the long-standing established order.
But any failure to continue in the ascendancy will inevitably, at some stage, bring out the frustration that has always bubbled under the surface with Alonso. Unlike Vettel, the two-time champion is not afraid to mince his words and will vent his frustration if the team underdeliver again.
The fire still burns deep inside for Alonso, but the Oviedo-born driver isn’t getting any younger and it can be suspected Aston Martin will be the last team of his extended F1 career. If Alonso falls into the same trap as Vettel and loses patience, Aston Martin will likely be forced into a position where it downgrades its driver line-up.
Ultimately, the involvement of the Stroll family returned the Aston Martin name to the grid at the expense of an independent midfield team that – while popular – was continuously middling in mediocrity.
The British marque represents the ambitious midfield entry the sport has desperately needed for a while – one willing to take risks and make big moves to challenge the might of the biggest team on the grid.
Such shows of intent have led Alonso to invest in the project, representing a big coup for the team after Vettel’s shock departure potentially could have left it in a precarious position.
But, while the building blocks are in place to catapult it towards competing at the front, Aston Martin must utilise its current infrastructure and personnel better to demonstrate that it is in ideal shape to make the next step once it inherits its new factory facility.
Testing certainly showed positive signs that the tide might finally be turning, but that positive showing in Sakhir has only ramped up the pressure on the team, considerably. Aston Martin simply has to start delivering on expectations when it matters, starting with the Bahrain Grand Prix this weekend.
Keyword: How Aston Martin F1 became the team under most pressure to deliver