Aston Martin first entered Formula One with the DBR4, their first open-wheel racing car. The DBR4 was first built and tested in 1957 but did not make its Formula One debut until 1959. This delay was caused by the company prioritising the development of the DBR1 sports car, which went on to win the 1959 24 Hours of Le Mans. By the DBR4's world championship debut at the Dutch Grand Prix, it had become outdated and struggled for pace against its competitors, with Carroll Shelby and Roy Salvadori qualifying 10th and 13th respectively out of 15.[13][14] Salvadori retired from the race in the early laps with an engine failure, with Shelby's car suffering the same fate later in the race.[15]
F1 MANAGER 2001 EA SPORTS WITH 2009 MODrar
Following this string of poor results, with the team failing to score a single championship point,[25] Aston Martin abandoned Formula One entirely after the British Grand Prix to focus on sports car racing.[26][27]
In 2006, David Richards, who leads the consortium that owns Aston Martin, and his tech firm Prodrive were granted a spot as a potential entrant for the 2008 Formula One World Championship.[28] Upon speculation of an Aston Martin F1 return, Richards made it clear that Aston Martin had a long way to go until it was ready for an F1 team. He believed the route to being competitive was to partner with an existing team, rather than setting up a new team with Aston Martin and Prodrive.[29] In 2009, Richards again announced his intent to return to Formula One in 2010 with the possibility of using the Aston Martin name, however, this did not come to fruition.[30] Between 2016 and 2020 Aston Martin served as a sponsor for Red Bull Racing, and as title sponsor of the team between 2018 and 2020.[31][32]
In January 2020, a funding investment from Racing Point owner Lawrence Stroll into Aston Martin saw him take a 16.7% stake in the company.[33][34] This resulted in the commercial rebranding of Racing Point UK's Racing Point F1 Team into Aston Martin F1 Team for the 2021 season.[35][36] The team competes with Mercedes power units, which it has done under its various names since 2009.[37] Sergio Pérez was under contract to drive for them until 2022, but he was replaced by four-time World Drivers' Champion Sebastian Vettel, who previously drove at Ferrari, for the 2021 championship.[38][39] The team had also signed Nico Hülkenberg as their reserve and development driver.[40][41]
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