Photo by Joe Portlock – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images
Lawrence Stroll is bringing on a new key member of the executive team at Aston Martin F1
Lawrence Stroll has made no secret of his desire to transform Aston Martin into a team competing for a Formula 1 Constructors’ Championship.
In recent years the team signed former Drivers’ Champion Fernando Alonso away from Alpine, broke ground on a new state-of-the-art factory around their existing facility at Silverstone, and added engineering talent from around the grid.
Now they have announced their latest move.
On Tuesday ahead of the British Grand Prix Aston Martin announced that Andy Cowell will join the team as Group Chief Executive Officer in October, reporting directly to Stroll. Current Group CEO Martin Whitmarsh will be handing over those responsibilities at that time.
Cowell joined Mercedes in 2004 and worked his way through the ranks, becoming Managing Director of Mercedes High Performance Powertrains (Mercedes HPP) in 2013. He was a critical part of a team that dominated the sport’s V6 turbo-hybrid era, as Mercedes won both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships between 2014 and 2020.
He stepped away from Mercedes in 2021.
“I am delighted to welcome Andy to our team at a crucial time,” said Stroll in the official announcement. “Together with our works partnership with Honda, the commitment from our title partner Aramco and Andy’s leadership we are on track to become a world championship winning team. Andy has my full backing and will have every resource available to win.”
The move comes at a critical moment for Aston Martin. After roaring out of the gates a season ago, the team has stalled since the middle of the 2023 campaign. At one point early in the 2023 F1 season Aston Martin was second in the Constructors’ Championship standings but slid down to fifth by the time the season ended.
This year has seen them on the back foot from the beginning of the season, and they currently sit fifth in the Constructors’ Championship again, 138 points adrift of fourth-place Mercedes.
Of course, Aston Martin fans are hoping to hear of another critical executive hire in the coming months, as it has been rumored that the team is trying to lure Adrian Newey to their new factory in Silverstone. Earlier this season it was made official that Newey would be leaving Red Bull after years of designing some of the most dominant cars in the sport’s history, including the force that was last season’s RB19.
