2026 Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team

[diffuser]

A few posts ago you were suggesting that AMR was reporting false losses to avoid paying taxes, now you are doubtful that Lawrence could inflate the value of his own company in a deal with himself?

I'm just informing you where those numbers are coming from, it's not up to debate whether they are real or not. Forbes didn't come up with their own valuation, they used Stroll's.

That's not what I said. I said they were reinvesting money in the team by buying equipment, hardware, buildings, etc that they then can write off. That "write off" would make it appear (if you looking just at profit and losses) that they're losing money but their assets are going up in value. If you borrow $400 Million to build 3 building, you can then expense that over the next 10 years or so . Whatever you're paying there, from a year to year basis, some portion or all of it come off your profits.

All teams have depreciating assets, it doesn't explain $60m in losses.

The real reason AMR is losing money is because they are investing a lot whilst having a turnover that is only around 50-60% of the big teams.

I actually said that. Teams are reinvesting in themselves in varying degrees. No other team has spent $300 million on 3 building and a wind tunnel in the last 5 years.

I would agree with what you said. With the caviot that:
1 ...I'm not an accounting expert
2 ... The turnover get sent over to AML. So I'm not sure that show up in AM F1 GP books.

[Honda Porsche fan]

The question I'd like to know is, will all this money that Lawrence Stroll is investing into his F1 team, will it pay itself off and will they make a profit or how will they be able to make a profit?

With independent teams that are not automaker owned (McLaren, Aston Martin, Alpine, Williams) they cannot generate revenue consistently the same way as teams owned by automakers can (Mercedes, Ferrari) so Lawrence will have to bring in more sponsors, more investors and also rely on earnings from the Constructors title.

Lawrence invested heavily in the aero/chassis/gearbox side of operation in the UK to make a competitive car, now they're waiting on Honda to deliver.

I'm personally a little frustrated and perturbed by Honda with how they run their F1 program and their lack of continuity and consistency. They need to be more cognizant of their customer teams who rely on them and how Honda's performance effects the finances of their customer teams.

I understand more now why Red Bull decided to build their own F1 engines in-house and not have to be dependent on wishy washy automakers.

Maybe Honda will buy a larger % share of Aston Martin and invest more money into the team and create long term stability ?

[Waz]

F1 teams might be owned by automakers, but they all generate revenue independently. Any manufacturer shutting down the F1 team because it's "too expensive" is talking nonsense, and it's just a saving face move in front of laying off workers.

Team value alone will have Stroll rolling in cash if he wants to sell.

Edit : long term stability and Honda should never be used in the same sentence. Ever.

[diffuser]

The question I'd like to know is, will all this money that Lawrence Stroll is investing into his F1 team, will it pay itself off and will they make a profit or how will they be able to make a profit?

With independent teams that are not automaker owned (McLaren, Aston Martin, Alpine, Williams) they cannot generate revenue consistently the same way as teams owned by automakers can (Mercedes, Ferrari) so Lawrence will have to bring in more sponsors, more investors and also rely on earnings from the Constructors title.

Lawrence invested heavily in the aero/chassis/gearbox side of operation in the UK to make a competitive car, now they're waiting on Honda to deliver.

I'm personally a little frustrated and perturbed by Honda with how they run their F1 program and their lack of continuity and consistency. They need to be more cognizant of their customer teams who rely on them and how Honda's performance effects the finances of their customer teams.

I understand more now why Red Bull decided to build their own F1 engines in-house and not have to be dependent on wishy washy automakers.

Maybe Honda will buy a larger % share of Aston Martin and invest more money into the team and create long term stability ?

- Racing Point UK consortium, led by L Stroll, bought Force India team for $117 million (Racing Point became Aston Martin F1 GP).
- Yew Tree Consortium, led by L Stroll, invested £182 million to buy ~16.7% of Aston Martin Lagonda.
- Yew Tree Consortium, led by L Stroll, bought 4.6% at $147M of Aston Martin F1 GP
Note the above 2 companies and consortiums are separate although close.

Yeah, not sure what to tell you about Honda. As a PU manufacture, the fewer teams you have the more money you lose. You have a budget of around 150 Million and only 1 customer. And what AM F1 pays is just ($16–18M). A PU Manufacture like merc that has 5 teams (including Merc) that's close to $90M in revenue that offsets the costs of the budget. The PU Manufacturing doesn't really have any sponcership $$$

[Honda Porsche fan]

Waz and diffuser, you made some good points...

How Mercedes is running their F1 program and making big profit, is a good business model, is impressive and for some reason no other automaker has been able to do it as consistently as them.

Maybe this is about ego and not wanting to copy Mercedes but, automakers who want to enter F1 should really study and learn what Mercedes has done, how Ross Brawn, Toto Wolf and Mercedes boardroom in Germany set it up.

Trying to get into the heads of Honda Motor Company in Japan and how they think about F1. Their F1 program is run differently from their Indycar program. Their Indycar program is amazing, they been dominant since 1996 and consistent every year.

Honda's extreme highs and lows in F1 is not good financially for the company and not good for their reputation. It's like they take pride in this style of fight and look at it as persevering through battle and triumph. But, it creates a financial and emotional roller coaster ride for themselves and the customer teams using Honda engines.

Now, Aston Martin is along for Honda's roller coaster ride.

[SSJ4]

important weekend for honda. still dont expect us to finish a race properly (no vibrations). until after the summer break

[AR3-GP]

This fits what Marko said.

And I add more. I know from very, very reliable sources that they don't expect to be able to finish a race until Spa

In the Belgian GP the first real improvements may arrive, until then null hopes

[Honda Porsche fan]

This fits what Marko said.

And I add more. I know from very, very reliable sources that they don't expect to be able to finish a race until Spa

In the Belgian GP the first real improvements may arrive, until then null hopes

If this is true, then Honda should be held financially liable and pay for any debt that Aston Martin takes on till then. Honda should issue a public statement apologizing to Aston Martin.

Honda does this because they are entitled and think they can get away with doing this, come and go when they please, leave customer teams hanging, then re-enter F1 with a bad engine that puts customer teams at the back of the grid waiting an entire season or 3 to 4 seasons for a competitive engine.

FIA needs to change the rules and hold automakers (Honda, BMW, Toyota) accountable to the smaller customer teams they supply engines to. Automakers have to financially compensate teams if they do not put forth a competitive engine that hurts teams in the Constructors Championship as independent teams rely on revenue from the Constructors Championship.

These European based teams that design the aero/chassis employ 400 to 1000+ people and have to pay their salaries. Large corporate multi-national automakers are not loyal to them and show a disregard to the customer teams.

This would not be such a big problem if Honda built it all 100% in-house in Japan at the Honda Japanese factory building their own chassis/aero/suspension/gearbox/engine and they take all the profit and all the debt on themselves but, they don't build it all in Japan, they supply engines to EU teams who are dependent on Honda.

I hope this is not true and Honda makes some big gains in performance for 2026.

[TyreSlip]

This fits what Marko said.

And I add more. I know from very, very reliable sources that they don't expect to be able to finish a race until Spa

In the Belgian GP the first real improvements may arrive, until then null hopes

Starting over from scratch to find the source of vibrations? Even worse than I imagined.

I wonder what the get-out clauses are for Aston Martin to be able to leave Honda? They are never going to catch up in 4 years when they will be at least 2 years behind in development, ADUO or not. This is a serious crisis for Aston Martin.

[mzso]

Well. It seems like everyone was wrong. It's worse than even the worst predictions.

[diffuser]

Well. It seems like everyone was wrong. It's worse than even the worst predictions.

Yep.

[HPD]

Japan, Alonso in Q3 .
hahaha just kidding.

[Ashwinv16]

With tank full and the car on heavy mod to avoid vibrations. Alonso had decent starts of the race,so the engine even demoted has some power on it. So i would say is not all lost

Alonso starts the race with a full battery, so he is only slightly disadvantaged at the start with a weaker ICE. The problem is what happens after a few corners when the Honda ICE is incapable of recharging like the other engines.

Not incapable of charging. It charges quickly but the drivers have to use more of it cause the engine in down on power so they run out quicker.

[Ashwinv16]

Also considering how things are going I won't trust anything from any Spanish butthurts for now. They just adding fuel tot eh fire for now reason.

[CHT]

Marko told Austrian publication Oe24: "I’ve been in contact with him (Newey). He’s not doing well. There are problems with this project that won’t be solved quickly.”

Why won't be solved quickly?

1) Honda need to rebuild a new engine with new MGU-K layout
2) New engine will require new chassis and aero package
3) Chassis and aero package cannot be done without engine information
4) Honda may also need to rebuild their battery as they may be behind other team in ERS

Can Honda produce a world championship capable engine in just 3 to 6 months? I doubt its going to happen.