F1 team owner Stroll declares Aston Martin `here to win'
Lawrence Stroll is new to Formula One team ownership but when he says he's in it to win it with Aston Martin, he speaks as someone who has been around the sport for decades.
The Canadian billionaire, who made his fortune in fashion, told Reuters the introduction of a budget cap this season and a fairer distribution of revenues could make the dream come true.
“If (F1 owners) Liberty hadn't brought in the rules of the new budget cap, and the new cash distribution, I would never have made the investment and acquired a Formula One team,” he said.
“With this new budget cap, it makes these teams profitable. We're all playing on a level playing field, it's not that two or three teams are outspending and therefore more competitive.”
Stroll, 61, bought the financially failing Force India team in 2018 and replaced it with Racing Point, who finished fourth last year but won a race and would have ended up third without a points deduction.
They're now competing as Aston Martin, the sports car maker of which Stroll serves as executive chairman and is a significant shareholder.
He's not expecting overnight success, but nor does he contemplate failure.
“Like every other business I've owned, I'm here to win,” he declared.
Stroll's son Lance, 22, races for Aston Martin, and it would be easy to see the team as simply a vehicle acquired to further his career. That, however, ignores the older Stroll's track record.
Thrilled by Canadian hero and Ferrari favourite Gilles Villeneuve, Stroll arrived in Paris in the 1980s as owner of Ralph Lauren Europe. A friend was a shareholder in a team and one thing led to another.
In 1990, Stroll sponsored Team Lotus with his Tommy Hilfiger and Pepe Jeans clothing brands.
“I thought it checked the boxes on my passion but also made sense,” he said. “It was a year or two after I acquired Tommy Hilfiger, so a very good way to give brand recognition.”
He later became a significant minority shareholder, but sold out after a disagreement.
With Hilfiger booming in America, Stroll sought to drive the brand's expansion in Europe and teamed up with Ferrari. Michael Schumacher was one of the team's drivers.
A big fan of the Ferrari brand, Stroll sees Aston Martin as “the greatest British iconic luxury performance brand in the world.
“We have an Aston Martin plan, we don't look at our competitors for that plan,” Stroll said.
“We have our own vision and our own model that we are going to be building, and I think will be better than anyone else's out there.”