Hey guys! Just a correction on the video - Aston Martin didn’t use CAD files from the Red Bull (that would’ve been very illegal). I read something the other day that said they did, but it must’ve been fake, which is my bad - sorry!

Yes. Him meddling and being too hands on is the biggest reason for their underperformance. If he just hung back and let the experts he hired do their job the team would be in a much better position imo

Small correction: they didn't copy the brake ducts. They bought both front and rear brake ducts from Mercedes in 2019 but only used the rear ones (iirc) and both in 2020, but brake ducts became a listed part in 2020. If they had used both the front and rear Mercedes brake ducts in 2019 already and brought them over to 2020 then there would've been no issues.

The actual reason is: Lawrence Stroll made Otmar Szafenhauer leave... He was the heart and soul of them team. The employees trusted him.

He inherited a very well-oiled machine and ran it to the ground within 1 season. Now that’s talent. I am sooo happy they let Checo go, I would’ve been f*cking heartbroken watching him drive that car

He has turned a team that overperformed its budget into a chronic underperformer. Thanks for documenting his failings.

As awful as the car is this season I think Seb's performance has been really underrated. P8 in Imola, P8 in Miami (until the crash) and P10 in Monaco after awful strategy and he's done it in the second slowest car. I hope the car gets quicker so we can see him fighting closer to or even at the front.

The only good thing that happened due to Stroll Snr's actions is Checo having a great career

i feel he should sell aston to porsche or audi , they will mostly run the team better and one more seat will be open to a more worthy driver than lance stroll

Maybe the team climate is worse now, but on the engineering side I still think it's to early to call. Once all the facilities are built they can hopefully use all the competence they have in their staff. If not, then he has ruined the team.

Really didn't even have to watch the video to answer YES to the question....plus even though he is in a FAR better team now, the way they treated Checo was terrible after all he gave to the team throughout the iterations. Lance is not the worst, he is not the best...should he be in F1 is the same question you could levy at a lot of drivers at the back (cough..Latifi) but when you think about drivers who are pay drivers....his Dad literally bought the team for him and he was the worse driver than Checo but we all know he would not be let go - that family is ruining the team I think a lot of us rooted for as Force India but now....not so much!

It's lost the core competencies that make the team good. ( clever engineering and teamwork). It's lost the teamwork due to fear and it's lost the core competencies because key people have changed. too early to say whether this will be 'another Jaguar Project' but throwing money at a problem doesnt solve it especially with a cost cap. also Stroll Jnr tends to struggle with technical feedback which is Stroll Snr is favouring him will lead to a bad car in terms of development and feedback for how to improve.

Seb seems pretty optimistic for the upgrades coming in Baku. I feel if Lawrence Stroll stops micro-managing and lets the staff do what they need to, the future for Aston Martin can be promising.

I can't count how many times i've seen that goddamn aston be rolled out off that truck

Stroll is the perfect example of an owner you don't want. The meddling kind. You want the kind of owner that hires the right people to do the job and then let them do it because that's what you pay them for. An owner that hires the people then also tells them how to do their jobs too never usually goes well.

This aged well

I think the biggest and most detrimental thing Lawrence Stroll did was get rid of Otmar Szafnauer. Otmar knew how to manage a race team and understood what it took to run a competitive organization on a limited budget. Stroll's presence in the paddock put so much pressure on Szafnauer that the team could no longer function in a manner that worked for them. Also, having to add Lance to the driver lineup when there were so many more capable drivers on the market left Otmar hand strapped when it came to testing new drivers. Until Lance decides to step aside Aston Martin will never have a competitive driver lineup or a competitive team. If Lawrence really knows what's good for him, he'll sell the team to someone who really has the experience and know-how to run a team and win championships like Andretti Motor Sports.

When Sergio was let go for Seb, that wasn't good and it wasn't handled well. I think Aston Martin is suffering because of this decision. Point being is, you reap what you sow. Now Sergio is the 2022 Monaco GP winner.🏆 Wow! Congratulations, Sergio! Just goes to show, the good guys can and do come in first.

It's debatable. Something that's not debatable is that Checo would have been worse off if he managed to stay at Aston Martin

The absolute karma they’ve been getting since they ditched Checo lmao

I don't think effectivly telling your designers "you're rubbish, Merc & Red Bull designers are better" is a recipe for long term success.

Force India was a great midfield team, and now Lawrence has destroyed it just so that his son can drive oversized go karts

Lawrence Stroll DID ruin/spoil his own team.From one of the best in the midfield to become one of the 2nd best at the backmarkers.

This aged like milk...

Its a shame to see the Aston Martin name being dragged through the dirt. I really don't understand how this man has made his investors any money cause he seems awful at it.

I could see a similar thing happening with Aston martin that did with brawn, a German manufacturer buying the team and employing a young German prospect (Schumacher) and a German veteran to push the team forward in development and atmosphere (Vettel), akin to Mercedes return to the grid

wow that aged bad

Here after Alonso’s P3 in Bahrain and Stroll’s P6 with broken wrists

Totally onboard with bagging Lawrence Stroll here. Hopefully the team is sold to someone who doesn't try to make it all about himself. And Lance would be better off in a team that daddy didn't buy for him, if he's actually good enough for anyone else to want to sign him.

Stroll needs to let the team run it and the team principal because he tries to do Mike’s job for him and he doesn’t know what to do and has no experience. Otmar said that Stroll tried to do his job for him and Stroll told him he had to leave after Abu Dhabi or he would be demoted into a worse role in the team because he argued with Stroll.

This was a Team that was most efficient with what budget they had Hiring and reshuffling people and playing too much of a hand in the Team completely destroys all of that synergy that made it possible in the first place Baffling that Lawrence still hasn't noticed that

Sell the team to Audi Bring banger engine Make Vettel champion

The sooner he realises that running an F1 team isn't the same as running a clothing business the faster things might improve for Aston.

Yes. Force India had a small team but they have great drivers, Hulk and Perez, and even Ocon. The issue now is a team owner who is a tyrant and is inexperienced in this industry, who won't let experienced people make proper decisions. His son shows glimpses of potential but is nowhere near good enough. They have a test driver who is better than their actual driver, Nico Hulkenberg. They chose Perez to go with all the sponsors to go to get Vettel who isn't as good anymore. This could have been forgiven but Stroll wasn't kicked out. A Perez and Vettel lineup would have been great. If I was Stroll I would sell my team to Audi and they have drovers in that team already, Hulk and Vettel, an all-German team. Hulkenberg still has pace, he showed it this year when he out-qualified Stroll and finished ahead of Stroll with less mileage in the car. So yes, Lawrence has destroyed the team.

I miss VJ. He was one of my favorite paddock characters

You forgot to mention how Hulkenberg beats Stroll in the Bahrain qualifying despite Hulk only having to drive the car that week while Stroll had driven the car in testing and the FP sessions in Bahrain.

I keep wondering how awesome would it be if Lawrence gets into Williams somehow and we get Lance and Latifi on the same team. I'd love to watch that teammate battle it would be so much fun

Sell to Audi!! They want a German driver too

A few corrections here, 1 Aston Martin was not punished in 2020 for copying the brake ducts, they were penalised as, in f1 you can carry over certain parts, they carried over the suspension from Mercedes and the brake ducts comes along with it, then came the rule that you have to design your own brake ducts, the catch here is in 2019 they did carry Over the front but not the rear, and suddenly they carried over the rear too in 2020 which was against the rules 2 like in 2021 it's not that they didn't understand the Mercedes concept, how come the same concept performed well in 2020 and not 2021, it because the fact when the rear winglets and the other fins were banned to reduce the dirty air, plus the car made to ride higher Aston didn't know how to recover the loss partly because the only partly understood the concept and plus a major change next year compounded the problem 3 the bad 2021 made them to switch to 2022 design very late last year, now with the b spec practically a new car and it will take time to understand, this b spec car is not like the one force India released in 2015 because, the ground effects are very difficult to master and it's not simple as the body effects like before So with all these problems, and Stroll Sr doing a head master role is affecting the team more, so I accept with Stroll Sr as you said, but these are the other points I like to change

I really like your videos, and You have some fair points. I’m just curious if you can elaborate on Lance stroll trying to sell the team and Red Bull ex-employees taking CAD files and using them for the Aston Martin car. I just haven’t seen it reported anywhere else. Keep up the great work!

This was more predictable than the rising of the sun. You can’t buy a victory in F1, just ask Toyota

You forgot to mention that the atmosphere within the team made Otmar walk away from something he had dedicated a lot into creating

If Lawrence Stroll already trying to sell the team, that could be a free slot for Audi, Porsche, or Andretti (well it's not free but they're more than willing to buy an existing team rather than start new one).

Totally agree the stroll family clearly doesn't help the team to do better

I rather have the team to just focus on the mid field it's like he is putting pressure to the teams on trying to make this team a champion winning team, the team never had this pressure on trying to be a championship winning team, maybe it's just too optimistic for stroll to make a mid field team to a winning team in 5 years but well this isn't mercedes, this is a mid field team that punch their weight with lesser budget and get good result, what I can see is that stroll plan is just to fast and failing his expectations (p.s sorry if nonsense)

I know PR is PR but it's funny how literally everything in this video goes directly against what we hear and see on the broadcast and the F1 youtube channel

aged like fine wine lmaoo

Gonna play devil's advocate for a moment- it's hard to say that he's ruined the team when he saved it from A. bankruptcy or B. Mazepin sr. . . and secondly, the Mercedes engine clearly missed the mark on the reg changes. People can shit talk Lance all they want, but he out qualified a Seb a ton of times last year and he's basically driving for free.

If it's a Stroll family slander, I click, I like and I subscribe So good job on this one

I don't think he ruined it, they only went to their natural place. They had to do everything from scratch after the previous car, which is not easy for a small/medium team. We'll see how it goes after their huge investment in the new factory. Like it or not, at the end of the day he's a business man, he wants his investment back and he will do what he deems as wise to get it back.

Soooo… this video aged REALLY badly 🤣🤣🤣

Lawrence Stroll is basically that person in school that ask the kid next to them in class if they can copy his work and try to make it not obvious.

Lawrence and his son need to go asap that would be the best for Aston Martin

Does everyone still agree he drove the company into the ground? Lmao

I always knew having Lawrence Stroll wouldn't be good for the team just because of how he handles his business. He is in a sense very traditional and commanding but clearly that isn't working. He's also a businessman and therefore cares more about producing money instead of focusing on building a solid car. It was good to hire all the new personnel with their experience but you can even see that there was more focus on sponsorships too. Just so many things wrong with how he's handled the team

I haven't really watched Stroll's tweets but as a whole, it just seems like the team is circling the drain. It would not shock me if he ends up selling the team to Audi/Porche. From the outside looking in, he seems to me like he's just a micromanager. Leaving Otmar to do his actual job and taking a step back might have led to more positive results during his tenur but I think in usual billionaire fashion, he alienated those around him.

Short Answer: Yes. Hence why Otmar left for Alpine.

His reluctance to get rid of his son for a more capable driver is going to ensure they're not going to win championships and it baffles me how he cannot see or understand that.

small correction: aston didn't use the CAD files and haven't copied the RB sidepods, they have just copied the cuts from it. These things were very clearly stated in the investigation done by FIA (RB have to prove that CAD files were stolen and shared and they haven't).

Alright that last point about the Aston Martin Safety car is pure BS 😂 the reason the Merc Safety car has been upgraded this year is because it was slower than the Aston. 😂 Bert actually said the Aston is much more nimble and faster through the turns than the Merc the first time he properly got to test the Aston last season. Also not sure if you know, but the engine in the Aston is literally the same Bi Turbo V8 that is in the merc because the engine for the Aston Martin V8 Vantage is supplied by AMG 😂 AND it has been public knowledge since the Australian GP that the SC was driving slowly because that was what he was supposed to do. There was a statement after the weekend saying that the car is much more capable and wasn't being driven flat out. It's a safety car. The priority isn't to keep the drivers happy it's to keep the marshalls safe when clearing the track.

Tragedy of a billionaire who tried to make his son a formula 1 world champion by buying a team

Just as it happens at many high level sports, just throwing money and expecting to be good isn't the solution. In FIFA, you would buy Ronaldo, Messi, Neymar and whoever else was in his prime at that season and just see the world bow down to you. PSG did the same thing, look how that's going. Stroll did the same thing, look how that's going. Ross Brawn said in his book that the first year you go into a new team, you are going to fail, not because you're bad, but because you do not know what to fix. Stroll didn't fix a thing, he just demanded them being fixed, he is costing the team money (it's his own but still) and understanding, when they decide to swap their concepts mid season, copying the fastest car is one thing, understanding it and extracting performance is an entirely different one.

How can you not feel completely embarrassed when you have the seat because your father owns the team.

Aged like milk

I always got the sense that Otmar was not very comfortable with copying the Merc, and that was a Stroll idea. Also really seemed that Otmar was not a fan of Daddy Warbucks in the first place.

Otmar thought the same and noped out

Karma's a b**** I remember when he fired checo look at checo now.

To answer your question on stealing: Anything former RB engineers remember in their head is fair game. But it is super illegal to bring any hard data files from one team to another.

I was waiting for someone to talk about this, but thank god it’s John Warren

I hope If and when Lawrence sells the team that Lance is still on the team as a driver because I still feel like hes capable of being a good driver

i have a friend who had a co worker who chatted to Otmar once (last year before he left aston), and from what he said, it sounds like lawrence is trying to rule that team with an iron fist, and all the personel are really not being treated right, allegedly Lawrence stormed into a room in the factory, stood on a table and yelled at all the employees for doing terrible and said they better fix it or theyre fired or something like that, so yeah it sounds like hes doing a terrible job running that team

im sure its mentioned already but they werent penalised because "copying just the brake ducts is bad". its because its a hidden, yet still important aero component, and the fact that its hidden means that for them to have gotten it, theyd have needed the amg design/ the body is excused because its "clearly visible"

Unfortunately, you can't fight a biased system of control. Unless you're willing to bring the sport to it's knees.

Obviously. The dude fired two people that were key to managing and planning ahead because he didn't like that he disapproved their ideas.

Getting recommended this video again this has aged well 😂

Really want Seb to put his talents to work with a competitive car.

Lawrence Stroll is very much a typical cutthroat businessman. His method might work in his businesses, but I believe Formula 1 is highly specialized field of business where traditional business acumen just simply doesn't work. Nobody can just come into F1 with a sack of money and win a championship. Culture, structure, chemistry, these are just top of mind things that I believed need to be massaged out, not bought. I'm rooting for Vettel, not the team. Here's hopping Seb can get a decent drive before his retirement.

It is part of Lawrence’s master plan. He told Checo: „We want to in a different direction.” Now you see what he meant.

In the coming years Aston will be part of a huge controversy involving their constant use of other teams data. It goes far beyond what anyone already believes and is already well in the works. The hero’s leading this are just waiting for the right/safe time to do so

I think all the criticism is deserved. He took a team right on the edge of best of the rest and managed to take it backwards. He should have left the team as it was, but with more funding to reach the next step. I would think the work environment with him as the owner sucks. These guys are already under extreme pressure, I'm sure his ownership style makes it even worse. I hope he sells it. That might even free up a wasted seat his son is taking up.

This is aging like milk.

If Stroll would sell the team, that would be amazing. His son will be booted as well and hopefully someone with a better vision for the team can buy it.

They’ve only been around for 2 years. Give them a chance to sort things out.

Hello from Bahrain 2023, they're 2nd in the constructors now.

I don't know if I wholly agree. Force India looked strong throughout the turbo hybrid era, but I think that overlooks a lot of critical facts. In 2014 they were the worst of the Mercedes powered teams, and in 2015 the only Merc powered team they beat was the collapsing Lotus team (who had a much weaker driver roster with Grosjean and Maldonado). Keep in mind that during this same time the Merc powered Williams was actually close to the front, being the only customer team able to Red Bull and Ferrari, also Force India had arguably the 2 strongest midfield drivers of the era with Perez and Hulkenberg. 16, 17, and 18 were all strong seasons for them and with other engine suppliers catching up to Merc they were genuinely fighting for best of the rest on total merit. With the collapse of the team in 2018 preventing a lot of development, the 2019 RP team fell back a good ways down the order to being the 6th best car (unable to take P6 due to Stroll underperforming). I bring up their history leading up to the stroll takeover because they didn't take the initial reg change as well as people seem to think, and they really don't have the legacy of midfield success like people seem to think. Now onward to 2020, the first year Stroll's influence really took effect. After the comparatively poor 2019 season and the self-propagating nature of success in F1, RP had to do something relatively radical to be able to come back and properly fight in the midfield again (for reference, Haas, Sauber, and Toro Rosso had relatively incremental upgrades and stayed in relatively the same position while Williams was unable to close the gap enough to be more than a backmarker). They already had the brake duct designs they bought in 2019, and now they had the funding to actually invest in "inspired" R&D for a low rake angle concept. With their drop off in 2021, I think that ignores just how dominant that 2020 Mercedes was. The AM's qualifying gap to Merc actually stayed the same (about 9 tenths), meaning the floor changes actually affected them about equally in terms of pace. The difference has little to do with Merc understanding the concept better, instead that Merc could afford to lose 5 tenths and still be competitive. Their failure to be competitive this season is disappointing, but the last round of upgrades seems to have brought them closer to the Alpha Tauri and overall being a better midfield threat. Not to mention that we've seen teams miss the mark on reg changes and come back decently strong despite it. I do think Stroll has made some misteps, but I don't think we've seen enough to say he's ruined it anymore than we could say Szafnauer ruined Force India in 2014.

Lawrence stroll ruined Aston Martin before he even bought it. Lance stroll, that's how he ruined it.

Watching the AMR22 car launch this year and seeing how Lawrence spoke was telling in itself, 0 charisma and just kept reading the script with 0 stage presence. Not a good impression of a good leader

This didn’t age well at all

Sad thing that Seb had enough of this incompetent team and decided to retire. I can already see Alonso complaining when he's racing for them next year. Alonso is too damn frank and bluntly truthful that it hurts the team.

No point copying the car designs, if it doesn't work for their drivers. You got to build a car around your drivers.

Well it's only been a couple of years and they haven't got their new facilities up and running yet, so let's give them some time

I feel like if he threw his money at capable engineers rather than telling people to steal from existing designs they would be a very competitive team.

I would say dropping Otmar was a critical mistake.

I don't think it should be illegal to have the same designs, but it should be illegal to use actual physical parts from another car.

I think for the short term they have ruined them, but the long term investment will pay off with the new facilities and they’ll be able to make a championship challenge.

I think it's pretty obvious that Lawrence manages the team about as well as Lance drives the car. Hopefully they'll sell the team to Audi and both go home.

I think the reason copying redbull sidepod isn't working is because they use a Mercedes engine not a honda/redbull engine which has been made in mind with those sidepod

I think it’s too early to tell. They seem to have gone for a radical design at the beginning of the season and changed to the Red Bull style at Spain. Didn’t change much but that’s to be expected while redbull has been developing that car set up Aston Martin has to start at square one. I think next year will be a better gauge.

This has aged well

Who would want to work in a Hornets Nest?Owned by a Bully !